Eiyu no Kage: 5th Grail War
by AzureFlameXIIIGod
Summary: A story that hints at the events of Eiyu no Kage. Naruto is summoned as Shirou's Servant in the 5th Holy Grail War out of desperation, and now he fights in the War with skills trespassing other Servant classes than his own. Confusion ensues to everyone else, but him and his Master. Will reveal skills not shown in the actual story so it is a bit of a spoiler alert.
1. Night 1

_**Hey guys! A guy suggested I do the omake as another fic. I relayed the message to my co-creator and he gave the green-light on the idea, and so here's the fic on how Naruto affects the 5**__**th**__** Grail war from an alternate universe.**_

_**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or Fate/Stay Night or its characters. The story for this fic however is shared with me and Element-OverLord.**_

Night 1

"GO BERSERKER!" Screamed a young albino girl wearing a purple dress as a giant monster of a man with a rock-axe/sword for weapon roared before charging towards it's opponents.

"!"

Said opponents, which consisted of a blonde woman with her hair in a bun and a white dress holding a sword encased in invisible air alongside a blonde man with whiskers marks wearing knight armor of mostly orange and while holding a sword with exquisite décor on its metalwork, cursed as they barely avoided the giant beast's attack, which caused a small earthquake.

"So can you tell me how we got in this again, Saber-chan?" Asked the blonde in orange to the blonde girl who frowned at the question. They dodged another incoming attack, and the ground they stood on caved in like a bowl. The monstrosity known as Berserker –rightfully named so- turned around and swung his weapon at the white knight. She evaded the blade by inches while she bent her back to the point of almost becoming a right angle.

"Not now, you annoying Archer!" She yelled before she was forced to defend against Berserker's crippling blow. The force pushed Saber off the ground; however her guard still stood. With regained mobility from touching the ground, she told Archer, "We must stay alive!" Archer sighed…how did they get into this mess? Are their Masters even safe right now?

He's in battle, and as much as he'd like to pay attention, his mind wandered to earlier of this night, where it all began.

* * *

><p>There are many possibilities; parallel worlds in which an event plays out differently with a subtle touch while others drastically change as if dropping a penny started a civil war! Sure there could be a world out there that has that specific event happening right now, and we won't know about it. Parallels don't ever touch.<p>

The Grail destroys that principle, bringing in heroes of old with varying differences in story or history like King Arthur actually being a girl in the world we'll be looking at soon.

A Shinobi with the principles of a knight and hero enters the fray as the last Servant to enter the Grail war. He's from the future, so practically nobody knows of his legend. Which suits his situation fine. It'd be a shame to hide his wonderful Kyuseki with some lame concealing magic to keep his identity secret.

In another place, a red-haired boy named Shirou ran for his life. That blue-clad spearman is _STILL_ chasing after him! Why? Why is he still chasing this average-looking teen all the way to his home? Better yet, why is he still alive?! Last thing he remembered, he got stabbed _THROUGH THE HEART! _

The red head saw the glint of red on the corner of his left eye. On reflex, he dodged, leading the spear to puncture a hole in the wall in front of him. Shirou decided that being in his house; hallways are not safe places to be in with a spearman hellbent in killing him.

Actually, no place is safe for him.

The blue spearman grabbed the collar of his uniform and chucked him outside of his home. Shirou landed with a thud, and he quickly stood up to run away from the assailant.

"You just won't die, won't you, cockroach?!" The spearman yelled, "No matter. I killed you before, and I'll kill you again." That was Shirou's signal to run even faster now. To have that feeling of death on his back really motivated him to run like never before. Ah the wonders of adrenaline...

The future Acher halted his retreat when the spearman cut him off, and slammed the shaft of his spear on the teen's side, and sent the boy sprawling on the shed's floorboards. The teen groaned in pain, and unconsciously activated his magic circuits. He needed to fight back now! He searched for anything he can use as a weapon.

Sure he might die, but he already did...technically.

Unknowingly, the spearman entered the shed and prepared to stab Shirou once more. "Ready to die again?" The spearman asked. He waited for only a second before rearing the spear back and trusts it towards Shirou.

The teen activated his circuits and suddenly, a blinding, orange light emerged behind him. He dismissed it as nothing but the afterlife ready to claim his soul. What he didn't expect was the sound of metal clashing against metal.

Clinkssssssshh! The screeching sound of metal grinding on metal certainly alerted both assassin and victim. A second later, the spearman couldn't react in time, and rocketed out of the shed's doorframe. The man rolled away before crouching and skidding on the ground to stop. He readied his spear for a fight. It irritated him, but he, his victim, is now a Master, and being a Master means that he has a Servant; a powerful one.

In the shed, Shirou looked at what he could only describe as an orange knight. He had white armor, pauldrons, gauntlets, and greaves, but his main color, the one Shirou could really point out, is that he wears a lot of orange. But who is this mysterious orange knight/savior?

He hoped to get an answer when the hooded knight turned around. There, Shirou saw a triangular visor covered the man's eyes, and the hood hid his spiky, blonde hair. The whisker marks on his face was the only defining point after those features. With a smooth and eloquent voice that doesn't match his rough exterior, he asked, "I got your call. Are you my Master?" Shirou nodded dumbly at the knight. He didn't know what to think about the tall and orange-clad warrior who saved him from an early death.

"Y-yes?" Shirou answered cautiously.

"Then the pact is solidified, and yadayadayada…" The blonde knight smiled, and said, "You looked like you were about to die, eh? You want him gone, Master?"

"Gone?" Shirou repeated. He had an idea, but he wanted to hear what he meant.

"You know...eliminate, make him NOT exist, …dead?" The knight explained himself, and Shirou looked with wide eyes at the blonde Knight as he did not hesitate to ask if he wanted the spearman dead. Shirou whimpered slightly, and the knight simply took it as a yes, "Okay then! Lancer-san, here I come!" He jumped out of the shed with blade in hand.

'_So he really is a knight..._' Shirou thought in silent awe.

The spearman, Lancer, looked at the boy's savior. He was shocked to say the least. With that sword in hand, he suspected that the new Servant was a Saber. But that's not possible! He already fought Saber -quite the looker by the way- and she had very well have killed him already had the onlooker be there at the wrong time.

"Yo, Lancer-san! You think I can try doing what you do?" Lancer raised an eyebrow at that, but decided to ignore the rather eccentric Knight. The blonde Servant sheathed his sword and created a very familiar spear into his hands. The red spear glinted under the moonlight's rays. Lancer did not react a tiny bit; however, on the inside, his mind scrambled around how the new Servant has HIS Gae Bolg.

At a nearby rooftop, Rin Toshaka, teenage girl with brown hair in pigtails and a very discernable red sweater, and her Servant, Saber, a woman in a white dress and silver gleaming metal armor, looked in surprise at what the new Servant did. He created the lance Lancer held onto. Saber deduced that the Servant is not a Saber. There cannot be two Sabers; he didn't look like a Berserker, Archer, nor Rider. Caster maybe because he created that Lance out of magic, but definitely not the previous ones mentioned. So is he Caster? But he can be an Assassin, yet it defies his knight-like appearance.

They needed to find out soon, and the white-clad Saber would find the information they needed for her Master's future knowledge. She hoisted her blade hidden by wind and jumped from the rooftop to join the fray.

The orange spearman noticed Saber and shifted his body so he faced both opponents. He smirked, "A standoff, eh? I can deal with that. Bring it on, Saber-san, Lancer-san." His left hand released the shaft to grab the sword from its sheath at the right hip. Both known Servants narrowed their eyes at the act of dual-wielding spear and sword. They were thinking of possible identities, yet could not figure out who this orange-clad knight is supposed to be.

Giving up, Saber asked, "Who are you? What is your Servant class?"

The orange knight lowered his weapons, but not his guard; smart move on his part. He stabbed his sword in the ground in unceremonious manner, and said, "Now that'd be telling, Saber-san." His childish and mocking voice irked Lancer, but not the woman questioning him. He continued, "Tell you what...if you can force me to use the characteristic that makes me my Servant class, then you know my class." He picked up his sword, "So...shall we dance, King of Knights, and Culann's Savage Dog?" His foxy grin, plastered on his face, told the other warriors that he was confident that he got his opponents' titles right.

Saber and Lancer shivered at their identities revealed so immediately. This was no ordinary Servant -as all Servants in the Grail war should be- if he could discern the identities without so much as a need to look at his opponents' Noble Phantasms.

They repeated the question in their head, '_Who is this Servant?!_'

"Now then, shall we go, Lancer? Saber?" Smirked the blonde in orange as both servants stood there for a second before going at the same time. The orange Servant did not falter from his position, and let his opponents come to him. He smirked at the charging duo, and remembered the times he sparred with these two people. Ah...the days where he'd get beaten up so badly...those were the days. Now, he can stand and fight these two equally in terms of skill between both sword and spear. He readied himself as Lancer thrusts his spear towards the Servant, and Saber swinging her invisible sword overhead. And then what Shirou and Rin could see where flashes and sounds of steel clashing as SOMEHOW the orange knight managed to block the attacks from TWO SERVANTS AT THE SAME TIME! Sword met sword as did spear meeting its copy.

'_W-what is he?!_' Rin thought as she saw her Saber going for another slash, only for the orange servant to use his sword to block and throw her back as Lancer tried to do a sneak attack with his speed, but the orange hero managed to parry Gae Bolg with his copy of Gae Bolg AND deflect the strike in a matter of seconds! But unlike Rin, Shirou was watching the battle between heroes with awe and surprise, never expecting to see such confrontation happen in front of him!

'_So...this is what a battle between warriors of the past is_?' The red-head thought as he saw his...servant use his replicated lance as a pole to jump over a horizontal slash from the girl in white armor and then quickly use his sword to block a thrust attack from the blue man's lance before spinning around behind him and kick him to the ground!

'_DAMN_!' Lancer mentally shouted as he stood up from the ground and saw the orange servant avoid all the slashes that Saber keep attacking him with...and with that goddamn smirk on his face!

Meanwhile the orange hero was avoiding Saber's slashes and blocking those he couldn't while he saw some differences on the one before him from the one that taught him:

'_This Saber has a white dress unlike the blue that Saber-nee wore..._' He analyzed calmly. _'Also this one is more feminine...and is that Caliburn?!_' Now the shocked blonde noticed that like the blue Saber who had Excalibur in a wind coat, this one had Caliburn in one as well! Problem is…Naruto recognizes the magic and automatically disabled it for him to see. He inspected the blade some more before Saber finally managed to cut off his visor with all her strength, sending him flying away a few feet from the impact before he recovered and grinned.

"How's...that?! Now want to use your abilities?!" Saber grinned...until she saw the orange servant smile.

"Not bad at all Saber-chan~! It seems you caught me off guard!" The knight laughed like it wasn't a problem at all, and he clapped at Saber's action like he would as if he was patting a baby on the head!

"Quiet! Stop talking and show me some more action!" Saber yelled indignantly towards the orange knight.

"Oww... that hurts, Saber-chan. Do you _**WANT**_ me to thrust my long shaft into your body?" The blonde asked in a mix of sincerity and teasing, but the way he said it made it look more like sarcasm and pure mockery to the female knight! "Such language! Young girls like yourself shouldn't say that! How will you expect to find a husband with such dirty mouth?!" the respectable-looking knight's mischievous disposition degraded what the others thought about the Servant from initially looking at his dignified look.

It really didn't help that the double meaning of those words made Saber, Rin and Shirou blush while Lancer laughed his own ass off for a moment...

After that, the orange servant stabs the copy of Lancer's spear as well as his sword into the ground to snap his fingers. Thunder crackled as it snaked around the dark sky, and struck the ground slightly to the left of the orange knight. The lightning fizzled out to show a gargantuan-

"What the hell, man? A lion?" Lancer cried out. Indeed, as Lancer said, it was a colossal Lion wearing black and orange armor around its body! Upon looking at its back, one could see the large curved sheath all Katanas have. Lancer cringed; this lion knows how to use a katana made for its size!

_'A lion?! Is he Rider?!_' Thought Saber while holding herself from petting the beast in front of her, _'Even so how he was able to replicate Lancer's weapon?_'

"Well then Kiritsugu, you know what to do!" Grinned the orange servant as the now named Kiritsugu the lion scanned its master's opponents before seeing Lancer, and remembering that the blue man had helped his master, the lion went to lick the Servant as thanks for what he did. It would lick the woman later as well since she looked the same as that more conservative-looking woman with the same face.

Lancer himself, who had a secret phobia of lions after almost being eaten by a female lion cub, saw things differently, and soon the blue servant was running from the happy, trampling lion while screaming like a little girl. The orange Knight looked at Lancer with critical eyes. He knew Lancer would be afraid of Kiritsugu. He counted on it, actually. He needed to have a bit of payback for lacing that ramen with the spiciest hot sauce, which made him spit flames like a dragon.

Speaking of dragons...he wondered how Kiryuin was doing. No doubt that dragon of his is just blowing off steam in the throne of heroes because his Master didn't summon him.

But back to Lancer. He had some payback to unleash. He cracked his knuckles, and his relaxed grin turned maliciously evil. His blue eyes sparkled before he disappeared in a burst of speed.

Saber was taken aback. No doubt this Servant is Caster. Summoning copies of weapons, summoning a lion, and now disappearing in a burst of speed; this is most likely through the means of magic, and it seems he is quite adept at that. She stood and inspected the area. Where could he have gone?

In a gust of wind, the orange knight appeared behind Lancer, with his hands intertwined with his middle and index fingers pointing up. Lancer, too scared of the lion to even look behind him, never saw the upcoming 'attack.' The Sneaky Servant sneered, "FOOL! You think you can get away from me?!" The pointed fingers created a small blue sphere of some sort of energy and he thrusted it into Lancer's behind.

"**ONE THOUSAND YEARS OF DEATH: RASENGAN STYLE!**" Lancer felt his behind grind in pain as the sphere dug into his butt and eventually spinning him out of the area as a sparkle in the starry night.

Kiritsugu looked at his Master with a blank stare. He realized it was one of _those_ moments. Realizing it wont get any action, it settled in front of Shirou and sat there to protect him.

Shirou felt bad for the spearman. That attack certainly looked painful enough to actually make him cover his butt to protect its virginity. Rin looked appalled, yet at the same time intrigued, what is this Servant's class? Saber, however, lost all respect for the other Knight. She realized that the 'attack' was nothing more than a glorified ass poke with a literal spin on the end. She gripped Caliburn tightly because this was not the way a knight should act, and by all means, she will discipline him to the fullest extent!

Meanwhile, in another area, a priest, Lancer's Master, closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose. He too wondered what that mysterious Servant's class is. Archer is the only possible answer left, yet he refuses to use a bow! As insult to intelligence, he even constantly uses magic to pose himself as Caster, and by God he's making it look successful. That strange sphere certainly was Magic of sorts; he just wondered how a buffoon of a Knight is able to cast such powerful magic.

"Hah! Take that, Lancer! I beat you with a glorified poke in the ass! Hahahahaha!" The knight laughed up a storm, not paying attention to his surroundings. Saber willed her body to not stab this Servant in the back -she's the King erm...scratch that the Princess of Knights- she's not going to violate the code of Chivalry.

She yelled, "Hey!" The laughing Knight turned around to see Saber's furious face, "Are you Caster? Answer me!" Her voice demanded authority and respect from the mischievous knight. Said Knight lost his smile, and replaced it with an imperceptible frown. It's all questions with this girl… He threw his sword into the air. It glowed as it twirled majestically before transforming into a futuristic motorcycle. It still had the standard two wheels, one in the front and back, but the front itself is significantly longer than the motorcycles of the present, and is littered with armor plates resembling his armor. It had mounted guns on each side, large exhaust pipes on each side, which spouted flames from it whenever revved, and a large coffin-like structure on the back. As the final detail, the motorcycle was in orange as well. Saber did not react externally, but on the inside, she lacked a calm mind. He's Caster, but rides a motorcycle that was a sword?

Shirou looked confused now. His Servant -still getting used to that- did some form of strange magic and now his sword turned into a motorcycle! He looked awed, yet at the same time bewildered by the fact that a Knight holds a sword that can turn into a far more advanced motorcycle than ones the world has today. On the other hand, Rin started to doubt her Servant now. This rather strange Servant showcased various skills only other Servant classes can accomplish, yet neither she nor anyone has figured out what this Servant's class is. Just looking at that motorcycle gives her a bit of a strange tingle down her spine; that coffin didn't help the situation.

The orange Knight revved the motorcycle, and charged at Saber. On the right handle, the Knight's right thumb pressed a button, which caused the mounted guns to fire. Saber readied her sword; she slashed at the bullets, rendering the ranged attack useless. As the vehicle approached Saber, the orange Knight opened the coffin-like compartment at the back.

A sword, simple and double-edged, launched itself forward and landed into his hand. Out of the coffin, two cannons emerged as well. In a burst of light, the motorcycle and its rider vanished.

Saber became irritated. This Knight did not follow the Swordsmen oath! He and his Knightly likeliness refuse to follow the unwritten law of swordplay. If he isn't a Knight, then what is he? The brightly colored Knight would be someone noticeable in history, yet she does not recognize him as one of her Knights, nor has she ever heard of a magic-inclined Knight. It irritated her even more that this Servant showcased the skills of an Assassin now, and with a loud motorcycle, he hid his presence so professionally!

Suddenly, she felt a slight breeze originate from her right. Narrowing her eyes at the flaw in the Knight's approach, Saber exploited it as she anticipated where the next breeze would come from. Her smooth skin felt the slight tinge of air pass her by, and suddenly, she dashed in the general direction the breeze came from. She slashed at the general area, and immediately she felt the familiar resistance and clang of sword meeting sword.

She expected a snarky remark from her opponent; she didn't hear one. All she received were a multitude of slashes she was near ill prepared for. Both Swords/wo/men clashed, and despite the orange Knight riding on a vehicle, he was forced to dismount his motorcycle due to Saber thrusting her sword right at the Servant's breastplate.

The mysterious Servant rolled on the ground, and the motorcycle reverted to its original form. He disappeared into wind and appeared immediately in front of Saber. He lunged forward, but Saber blocked. He swung the sword diagonally from the right; Saber parried, and started a counterattack of her own. She aimed her slash at his open midsection, yet she was far enough that she only slashed cloth.

Saber lowered her sword, and asked, "How do you know the length of my blade?"

"My gosh, Saber-san...enough with the questions! I've had it up to here with my identity!" The Servant emphasized 'Here' with his hand well above his hooded head, "Look back to the abilities I've shown. Which of the classes did I not show?" He didn't let her answer because he started to go on the offensive. He raised his sword for an overhead slash. Blocked. Crouching down, he positioned his blade at his side, and slashed for her legs. The white-clad King stabbed her sword just to her right to stop the attack, but the force of her opponent's slash dislodged the sword from its position. She noticed the orange Knight handle the sword in a reverse grip, and then on, she felt her opponent's relentless assault as he twirled his sword with no room of error with each strike she blocked or tried to parry.

All of a sudden, he lashed out, arm snapping like a whip, and slammed his sword for her head. Saber instinctively forced her blade to protect against the oncoming sword to block it. What she failed to realize was that the sword transformed into another form. When she blocked the sword, she saw her reflection for a moment; she realized she looked at a mirror. Her opponent's sword shattered into millions of pieces, yet the Knight did not seem fazed by the occurrence.

Her vision was blinded by morning light burning her retinas even with her eyes closed. When the pain and the light disperse, she opened her eyes to see millions of the same orange Knight surrounding her with bows and arrows drawn and aimed at her.

"Surely, you're furious because I do not follow the Swordsman oath." The Servant stated with confidence, "But I assure you, I am not a regular Knight, Arthuria, I am but a shadow of other heroes' and your former glory. I am capable of being. Every. Single. Class in this Grail War, yet I've only shown five of the seven: Saber, Lancer, Rider, Caster, and Assassin. As you can see, I do not have Madness Enhancement on my person right now, which leaves me to my actual Servant class." Saber looked baffled. How is this Servant THAT class? He didn't show any aptitude as Archer, so why? "You want to know my class, then here is your answer, Saber!"

"Stop!" Shirou ordered. He and Rin also saw the multiple Archers positioned everywhere in the battlefield. Seeing as there's no possible way to evade all of those shots, Shirou ordered his Servant to stop. Archer complied, dispelling the numerous copies of himself, and stepped down from the roof of his Master's home. The lion, Kiritsugu, disappeared as soon as Shirou commanded Archer to stop.

"Any other order, you'd wish to impose on me, Master?" Archer asked to which he received a shake of the head.

"Nothing else. Thank you for complying to my order, Archer."

The Servant bowed in a theatrical manner, his right arm underneath his chest and aimed to his left while the left arm swung upwards and behind him. He answered, "All is for my Master…"

Saber definitely looked irritated by the gesture. Whatever this Knight learned was certainly not what an actual Knight acts like. None NONE of her Knights ever display such theatrics for a BOW; the worst would be kneeling with their head making contact on the ground in worship! She had half a mind to strike down this heretic if he continued to make fun of a Knight's behavior.

Rin herself could feel that growing anger from her Servant. As a way to prevent more fighting –a wise decision so far- Rin ordered her Servant to stop fighting as well; this was not a fight they could win without any information regarding this enigmatic Heroic Spirit in front of them.

"Hey, Emiya-kun. Tell me, what's your wish?" Rin asked her enemy.

"Wish? I don't have one." The red-haired teen answered sincerely.

"What?"

"I don't have one." Shirou repeated to the girl, "Why is that an important thing to ask?"

"Well-"

"Actually, before that Toshaka-san..." Began Shirou in a nervous tone as his new ally looked curiously. "Can you tell me what's going one about all this? I mean, I don't know what's happening…"

Rin looked aghast upon hearing that, "A-are you not kidding me, Emiya-kun? I mean, you summoned your Servant, so-"

"-Master doesn't seem to know about this war because he SUBCONSCIOUSLY summoned me in an attempt to survive Lancer's attacks..." Interrupted Archer as Saber and Rin were still in shock.

'_H-he summoned such a powerful servant...AND DIDN'T EVEN KNEW ABOUT THE WAR?!_' Was the thought of both girls before the Toshaka heir sighed in defeat. Truly both Servant and Master were giant enigmas in this war, and it'd be a good thing to have.

"Very well, I'll tell Emiya-kun all about the war..."

"I keep hearing war," Emiya stated, "Is that what's happening here?"

"Indeed, Emiya-kun. This event right now is called the Holy Grail war, a war where seven pairs fight to claim the omnipotent chalice able to grant any single wish." Shirou stayed silent, and figured out why Rin asked him the question about the wish, "For these seven pairs to fight, they have to be Masters, who summon their Servants, Heroic spirits of the past to do battle against their enemy and claim the grand prize."

"…"

'_Normally I wouldn't have made an alliance with any other magus for this war, less Emiya-kun since eventually we would have to face off..._' Rin thought before she remembered Archer's combat capabilites and successfully fended off two Servants at the same time, '_But since his Archer is not only very powerful, but also quite useful in terms of distraction by being the bigger threat, I guess I can make a temporary alliance..._' The Tosaka girl decided upon the decision to ally with the red-haired magus by announcing, "Emiya-kun. I'd like to propose an alliance. What do you think?"

The amateurish Magus looked shocked beyond words at what the Tohsaka Magus proposed to him. An alliance certainly would help in achieving the Grail faster. Though the problem is what would happen if the two of them are the only ones left. Archer, on the other hand, thought differently.

He confidently asked, "Ara? What's this about an alliance? Can't handle my awesomeness, Tohsaka-san?"

Rin ignored the 'Knight's' casual tone with her, and begrudgingly replied, "Yes. Not to stroke your ego, but you and Emiya-kun are better off as allies rather than enemies right now. With your myriad of skills that span classes, you are an enigmatic force of nature at the moment." Archer grinned at the implication of him being the strongest Servant in this war, and did a slight happy dance to go with it. Both girls looked at Archer with death emanating from their eyes; they hated this, but it certainly is better than the alternative.

* * *

><p>The four reached a church, and stopped at its entrance, "Archer, Saber, you both must stay here since servants aren't allowed in the building, only masters can come in." Rin explained as both blondes reluctantly nodded before the magus turned to the uneasy redhead. "Now let's go, Emiya-kun."<p>

"R-right..." Shirou gulped before they went inside, leaving both servants behind.

Archer looked at Saber with a smile before summoning...a bowl of ramen? "So wanna eat the food of the gods, Saber-chan~?" Saber just sighed before accepting the bowl. 'This servant...might be the death of me...' The two Servants waiting outside sat patiently as they devoured their bowls of steaming hot ramen noodles. A strange occurrence, one might say, but they are in an alliance; make a bond of trust and work out the kinks with acts of friendship. That's what Archer seemed to attempt. However, it seemed all he could focus on were his growing stack of ramen bowls. Saber was a bit impressed, there was another man could eat as much as her; she too had a growing stack.

"So what do you think, Saber-chan?" Archer asked with a smile. Saber looked away, embarrassed that she actually liked the food, and because she saw the other Servant's persistent smile. Archer seemed to take offense to Saber's averted gaze, "Hey, don't ignore me!" Yet she continued to do so, if only to make him get the hint that he should not talk to her in a familiar manner. The woman emphasized a huff, and continued to eat the bowl of ramen given to her.

"This is delicious, Archer. I'll give you that." Saber admitted. Food in Europe during her time was never this...exquisite, tantalizing, food able to satiate her hunger. Archer, the chef, smiled even more, almost threatening to split his face off. It unnerved Saber in an unknown way.

"Thanks!"

The man's eager answer amused Saber slightly. It felt relaxing to just talk like this. Still, there are questions that needed to be answered. Like how did he know her identity right off the bat? Caliburn hid inside Invisible air the whole time, and he knew the length of her blade!

"You're thinking again, Saber." Archer drawled with his blue eyes narrowed and aimed at her head as if to burn through her skull, "Why do you insist on learning my origins? To beat me? To win this war? You can have the Grail; I don't want it." Saber's thoughts came to a screeching halt. Archer doesn't want the Grail either?! How? "If you must know, my dream, my wish, came true during my lifetime."

The answer silenced Saber for several minutes as she tried to process Archer's words. What is the "Knight" before her fighting for? Whatever it is, it makes him smile a lot.

"What do you wish for Saber?" Archer asked the Princess of Knights, "I told you mine -lack of it- what about yours?" Saber debated on whether to tell her ally or not; she could either wait later and answer, or she could tell him. Either way, somehow he'll know. She pondered some more, if only to see the pros and cons of her decisions, and the blonde Archer sat in silence, eating yet another bowl he conjured up.

"My wish-"

"Ah! Finally done. That took quite a while. Sorry if we kept you waiting, Saber, Archer..." Rin's voice held detest in her voice when speaking the name Archer. The man in question didn't bother to react; what could she do to him? Vice versa with what he could do to her. Though the latter looked to be winning that particular side if the situation called for him to kill the Tohsaka Master.

He frowned, eager to know the woman's wish, but interrupted by their Masters.

* * *

><p>The two MasterServant pairs walked together to the general direction of their homes. They walked in relative silence, the nocturnal creatures provided noise. But as they walked, the noises eventually came to an eerie silence.

Archer readied himself, the air emanated death, and it made the Servant unconsciously survey the area. Reinforcing his eyes, his vision showed a gargantuan monstrosity of a human in a Greek armor skirt. His hair was more mane than hair as it flowed backwards like a ferocious lion's mane. The man's torso, buff to the point other body builders would be ashamed of their own bodies, towered over a little girl with snow-white hair. The girl was no doubt the Master; she wore winter clothes, a purple winter hat, coat, white skirt, and brown boots.

"A wonderful night, isn't it so, Oni-chan?" Shirou took a step back at the voice; he hadn't seen the newcomers yet.

"Who's there?" Shirou yelled. Archer readied his blade as the unknown Master/Servant pair walked underneath a lamppost. She curtsied to the Masters.

"And a good evening to you, Tohsaka-san. I'm Illya, or more formally, Illyasveil Von Einzberg. It's nice to meet you, Tohsaka-san, Oni-chan." Shirou relaxed a bit, a little girl in this war? She doesn't look like she can handle that Servant behind her, "I would love to talk some more, but sadly, we can't do that. Kill them, Berserker." At hat moment, the monster behind her jumped forward, his left eye glowing red as the only way to see him coming. In his right hand, a giant club-like sword swung in a vertical arc, aimed at Shirou.

Archer switched places with his Master, took his sword from its sheath and blocked the attack by positioning the sword parallel to the ground and over his head. The sheer force of the attack, buckled the orange Knight's knees, and cracked to road beneath him. Saber took action and took a chance at hitting Berserker.

She successfully hit the Greek warrior, who received a deep gash on his left cheek. It didn't flinch at the damage, merely shrugging off and moving his weapon to hit Saber. Released from the massive weight on top of him, Archer switched places with Saber in order to take the blow for her. The result sent the Servant rolling away from Berserker.

He quickly recovered from the roll and yelled to Saber, "Saber! Let's work on our teamwork now, eh?" He ran in a sudden burst of speed, leaving a crater in his wake. Berserker's reaction time spiked as he noticed the Servant over him with bow and arrow in hand. The orange Knight shot the arrow at Berserker's face, where the arrow exploded into a combination of explosives and smoke, "Now, Saber!"

The white-clad swordswoman charged at the dazed Berserker and attacked his chest. The beastly Servant staggered at the attack, much deeper than the gash Saber left on his cheek, and roared in pain. She attacked again, slashing horizontally at Berserker's pectorals before slashing upwards in a crescent motion while holding her blade in a reverse grip.

"Okay, switch!" Archer commanded.

"Switch?" Saber repeated.

"Pull back and let me have a go!" Archer replied in a simpler way. Reluctantly, she relented in her offensive position, jumped back -quite a good choice really- in time to dodge an angry Berserker's earth-shattering strike. Archer swung his blade at Berserker's left clavicle, the collar bone, and rendered the left arm momentarily useless.

"Berserker!" Illya cried out in worry, "Hurry and attack!" Landing to Berserker's right, Archer spun counterclockwise, his coattails curling with him like an orange tornado, and slammed a single-edged broadsword with a black hilt and a red trigger, and increased the swinging power through the use of several small propulsion engines near the top of the blade. With enough force, Berserker was lifer off the ground through Archer's homerun swing.

"Switch!" Archer once again announced. Catching on quickly, Saber ran after the airborne Berserker and jumped to deal damage when he's incapable of blocking. She successfully landed all her attacks, and finished her combo with slamming the blade down on Berserker's neck with all her strength. Berserker created a crater due to the impact, sending rubble, dust, and the surrounding sidewalk all around the general area.

"Switch!" Saber jumped back, in from of Rin, and saw Archer change the broadsword into serveral golden knives, each firmly placed between fingers. He threw all of the knives, which disappeared the moment the weapons escaped Archer's fingertips. He summoned another set to release the next salvo, and another and another; a never-ending cycle of flashing, golden knives disappearing into thin air. The act of throwing the knives looked like a dance, with each throw meaning Archer took a step and a certain pose. When done with his 'dance,' he returned to his Master's side, and snapped his fingers. Berserker's insides glowed golden as knives rapidly appear inside his body, making the fallen warrior twitch madly at the numerous knives stabbing his lungs and heart.

"Hmm...for a second, I thought your Servant was competent, short stuff. Guess he's just a Big Ol'softie." Archer taunted Berserker's Master.

Illya, offended by the nickname, shouted, "Short stuff! I'm older than I look!"

"So...a tall midget?" Archer asked. Shirou stood back, feeling the anger flowing out of Illya. He took more steps back as he felt Saber and Rin's anger rising; the two were wary of Archer before, but his skills to irritate women were more volatile than nuclear waste or his Noble Phantasm.

Illya snapped at the accusation, yelling, "With this Command seal, I order you Berserker, regain your lucidity and fight with your strength and endurance tripled! Retain this order until Archer perishes!" From the crater, Berserker roared, grabbing the knives inside his chest, which ripped open to remove the knives. The skin regenerated quickly, and Berserker crushed the golden daggers into dust floating in the wind. It scattered for several moments, allowing all parties to stand in awe at Berserker still surviving, and allowing the dust to collect into Archer's sheath, where it formed the sword once more.

"Oh...you're salty, Popsicle. A bit too salty might I add. Sea Salt flavor?"

"Kill him, Berserker!" Illya ordered in her female fury. The hulking Servant roared, and charged at Archer, who laughed at his teasing of the girl. He did not worry one bit.

The moment Berserker teacher within a meter of Archer, a barrier activated; swords of light with strange runes appeared in front of Berserker; moreover, Berserker's weapon halted in midair, never hitting the barrier.

"Uh uh uh~" Archer singsonged with his left index finger twiddling in disapproval at Berserker, "Princess Shortcake, nice to meet you, but we are terribly late to go to bed, and we have to wake up early to make our Masters go to school. You should sleep early too to get taller and less grumpy." He summoned a small ball, and threw in on the ground, "Bye-bye!" The ball exploded into black smoke as soon as it struck hard ground. When the barrier disappeared, Berserker swung his club to see the two pairs long gone.

Berserker sighed, "Your orders, Master?" Illya, still angered by Archer's teasing, did not think clearly and ignored the fact Berserker could talk.

She simply ordered, "Find him and kill him!"

"After a good night's rest." Berserker answered as he lifted Illya from the ground to place her on his shoulders, "You need your rest, and it would certainly help you get taller."

"What?!"

"Nothing..."

* * *

><p>Five minutes later, twenty blocks away from the last encounter, Archer cheered and raised his hand up high. His trademark smile only grew wider. Why did he smile? Not only did he deliberately piss of a little girl, he also made fun of Berserker, and made the hulking Servant waste four lives from the stocked twelve he had. What's more, that Servant regained his thoughts and is three times stronger in attack and defense; a definite challenge Archer liked to triumph over.<p>

Berserker and Illya walked in on a cheering Archer and the other three friends. Seconds later, Berserker finally hit the blonde -grazed, more like- and sent him into a wall, leaving a human-shaped crater as he fell off the wall. Berserker swung his weapon in a downward stroke, forcing Archer to cause a deadlock with his sword. The tripled strength of Berserker made the impact affect the ground negatively, collapsing the road even more, with dirt and rubble flying off like rockets.

Archer struggled; they needed to get out of here fast! But what's a good way to humiliate them some more? He searched his brain for some alternatives -he had a library of it in his head- and chose the easiest one available. He removed his right hand from the handle to reach into his right pocket to obtain a critical tool.

"Pocket sand!" Not really. It wasn't the same shade of sand; it was black in color -gunpowder. The particles were launched at Berserker's face, where his vision became altered. Archer pulled out something a Knight would also never use; he pulled out a white, long-barreled pistol with a red handle. After the gunpowder had hit, he shot at the cloud, making the powder explode once the bullet made contact.

"Berserker!" Illya shouted; her Servant lost another life. Four of them are gone now. Just what is this Archer capable of doing? It annoyed the Einzberg to no end, and that last maneuver was only a distraction to allow the runaways to leave again! She gave up for the night. Berserker lost too many lives in one night.

* * *

><p>Behind his back, Rin glared daggers at the cheery Servant. '<em>Why did this Servant have to be so irritable?!<em>' She thought, '_If he's the least bit chivalrous like an actual Knight, he'd be more tolerable, but no! He can ride a motorcycle, a lion, use teleporting knives that were initially a sword, disappear like an Assassin, and uses guns! What Knight from the legends used guns -pistols even!_' The more she thought about the Servant, the more it infuriated her that most likely, the idiot in front of her would win from sheer enigma and underestimation by other Servants.

Shirou slowly backed away from Rin, whose anger leaked out in the form of steam and a red face full of fury. Saber looked at her Master in awe; never before had she seen a person actually red in anger. To quell the female Master, Shirou gulped and walked next to her to say, "Tohsaka-san, calm down."

"Calm down?" Rin asked in an incredulous whisper, "I can't calm down! Your Servant is an extremely large threat! He's capable of using another class's skill, he's well versed in multiple weapon styles, a combat pragmatist, and generally likes to piss women off! What Heroic spirit in the form of a Knight ever did that in legend? What is his name?!" As the seconds pass, her whispers were more audible, and as each second passed, Shirou slowly walked back from the infuriated girl.

"Lighten up, Tohsaka-san. You might as well enjoy your easy trip to the Grail; I'll be wiping the competition with everything I have. Maybe, if you're lucky, you might even be able to make a counter strategy against me. I don't know how, but is like to see that happen." Archer's confident and nonchalant statement silenced the rest of the group because of how plausible the statement could be. The four walked in silence once more, hearing the nocturnal creatures buzzing in the darkness.

* * *

><p>"So master, anything you wanna talk about?" Asked Archer as he and Shirou stood on the Emiya house after barely escaping from Illya and Berserker with Rin and Saber in tow before they went to the Toshaka estate to rest.<p>

Right now the red haired Emiya was exhausted from all the events that happened; however, his Servant didn't look neither winded nor tired from his battles. The young Master wondered how strong his Servant was.

"Not much Archer...but I'm curious...just how strong are you?" Shirou asked, but then before the blonde in orange could answer several stats appeared above him:

Strength: C+

Agility: B-

Magic Resistance: C

Independent Action: A++

Presence Concealment: C

Riding: EX

Madness Enhancement: ?

Territory Creation: D

Endurance: A++

Mana: A++

Luck: B

Noble Phantasm: EX

Personal skills:

Unyielding Will: A++

Expert of Many Specializations: A-

Eternal Arms Mastership: B+

Obnoxious: B+

Eye of the Mind (False): B-

Protection from arrows: B

Shirou looked at the stats and wondered what it meant. In his curiosity, he raised his right hand to ask the significance of the letter ranks by asking, "What do those letters mean?"

Archer replied, "In most rankings, EX is the best rank, while E is the worst. When it comes to my strength and speed, it has been weakened to an extent due to your imperfect summoning."

"So you're saying-"

"I'm much stronger than what you saw," Archer answered, "Thankfully, my endurance and Noble Phantasm haven't weakened at all."

"Noble Phantasm?" Shirou asked.

"A Servant's greatest weapon, and its most likely the weapon they are mostly identified by their Noble Phantasm. And let me tell you that I have a lot of Noble Phantasms."

Shirou nodded in understanding, "So basically, in your initial state, you're average in strength and speed, but when you go all out, you become extremely dangerous."

"In a sense, yes." Archer admitted, but then Naruto spoke with strong conviction, "I don't give a damn about the stats I have! I'm giving a helluva fight, and I'll use every damn thing I've got in my arsenal to fight. Master, my stats may be not at the optimal condition, but you've seen what my sword can do; you've seen my skill, and you know I am capable of going toe to toe with every Servant in this war. Don't count me out. I am Archer, once regarded as the MOST UNPREDICTABLE where I come from. Let them underestimate me or surround me; I'll kill them all, and win this war!"

The red headed Master stared in silent surprise before he smiled and nodded at his Servant, who just smiled in return.

"Now, Master," Said Naruto, catching Shirou's attention, "What do we do for you to get the harem ending~?"

* * *

><p>Meanwhile, back on the Toshaka estate, Rin was resting while trying to understand just HOW she, Emiya and their servants managed to escape from the Einzberg heir and that monster, Berserker.<p>

'_And Emiya-kun's Servant's stats..._' Rin thought while shivering upon remembering the Archer's mana AND stamina being beyond the average, and don't even get her started on his Noble Phantasm rank! 'Luckily his strength and agility are on average...if not...' Now the Toshaka heir shivered at the idea of that…overpowered Archer, thinking of WHO OR WHAT could face him!?

In the church, a certain golden douche sneezed...

Saber, on the other side, was very confused about the enigma known as Archer. 'That irritating Servant! He's not a Knight, yet he acts like one!' She frowned with her boiling rage igniting like an inferno, which only increase as she thought about his abilities. 'He can be EVERY class on this war and even uses their abilities! Speed equal to Lancer, stealth like Assassin, swordsmanship equal to mine, can summon multiple weapons and use them like arrows, then can use some sort of magic equal to Caster, and even summons a lion like a Rider!' The sheer envy and fury Saber felt could heat an egg if said egg was placed on top of her head.

'_Even so...he's quite modest.._.' She blushed a bit before shaking her head. '_That smile too. So hypnotizing..._' Saber swooned in delight, and shook her head again, denying any sort of...feminine interest to latch onto that despicable "Knight." She failed as she remembered the man's face underneath the visor: bright, dazzling blue eyes like the endless sky or deep blue sea, hair sparkling like the sun, and a smile that beamed confidence. '_How can he keep smiling like that in the heat of battle?_' She continued to wonder about Archer and what his identity could be. She fell asleep to the recurring sight of Archer's smiling face, and woke up immediately before she burrowed her head into a pillow as she tried to remove that image all night.

_**And so here is how Naruto affects an alternate universe of Fate/Stay Night, and the 5**__**th**__** Grail War. This will be going along with Eiyu no Kage, so hints here, will be shown later in the actual story.**_

_**So review, follow, favorite, I don't care. This was a request done by a reviewer, and I simply did it for fun.**_

_**This is Azure, signing off.**_


	2. Night 2

_** Hey guys! So here**__**'**__**s the next installment. I understand that my writing about Archer vs Berserker isn**__**'**__**t the most realistic in terms of how it should**__**'**__**ve went down. Rankings like strength and riding skill are mentioned in the reviews, and I**__**'**__**d like to address them.**_

_** First of all, Archer**__**'**__**s transforming sword is a Noble Phantasm that is always active no matter what form it takes, It is an Anti-Unit, Anti-Army, Anti-Fortress, etc. depending on the form it takes, plus they**__**'**__**re at least A-ranked, so they do damage regardless of Archer**__**'**__**s strength ranking. He doesn't really need to say his Noble Phantasm's name because it's active constantly. As for Archer**__**'**__**s riding skill ranking, he has a dragon; let**__**'**__**s leave it at that. As for his Class trespassing ability, I**__**'**__**ll address that in the chapter. So let**__**'**__**s get on with it.**_

_** Also about pairings**__**…**__**you**__**'**__**ll find out! I can say that Lily is a part of it.**_

_** Disclaimer: First Chapter**_

Night 2

Shirou looked at a desolate landscape occupied by several warriors. Among them Archer was there. Archer stared at his colleagues, kneeling like he did. All of them keeled over from their injuries facing either enemy. A woman that looked like the Saber he saw just hours ago had royal blue clothing turned ragged from all the scratches, tears, and holes; her only intact outfit were her magically-repairing armor. She stabbed an intricate sword on the ground as support while one knee stabilized her other side. She gasped for breath, yet couldn't do so properly because of the intimidating aura one of the men floating above unleashed. A man in red sported objects, probably swords, on his back, but he wasn't sure of it; the image was fuzzy at best. Like a mildly thick fog, the image kept blurring the more he wants to see. He's still alive despite the multiple weapons impaling his torso. He too was in equally exhausted shape as the Saber look-alike. His white hair donned blotches of red and his mouth spat a waterfall of blood, but he couldn't identify his face. Lancer, the exact same Lancer he saw today, was no better. To be honest, he thought Lancer died standing. He got the same treatment as the man in red did, but more devastating in appearance. Again with the fuzzy image, Shirou saw what seemed to be Lancer impaled at the heart. Lancer's breaths came at a rapid, irregular rhythm. His left shoulder was useless as a spear-like object tore through the joint. A pirate woman was out of commission. Knocked out and out of mana, her body faced the ground with her back towards the sky. Her injuries were unidentifiable, but Shirou knew she bled heavily. A fox girl seemed the least injured, but merely exhausted. A black knight's armor was dented all over the place. Whole pieces of weapons lodged themselves in the grooves of the knight's armor, but despite that, he was ready for more. A very questionable girl with questionable clothing had only one arm. Still in pain, she lowered herself to knee and try to drown out the pain in her left side.

Despite the damage Archer and his allies faced, it didn't mean that the two men with extremely destructive powers were left unscathed by the assault. A man in white robes, blurred from recognition, floated above the exhausted fighters. Another, also blurred, stood on some intricate contraption. The most discernible thing Shirou could identify was the gold the individual wore.

Archer looked angry with himself. Looking over his left hand, he stared at it for quite some time. After that adequate amount of time, Archer spoke "With this command spell, I, - , command my -" With a flash of red, a piece of the what Shirou identified as a command spell from the earlier discussion about the peculiarities of the Holy Grail War, disappeared, and the kneeling fighters bathed in majestic green light that healed them completely. All of them now stood up, ready for the fight.

The two men stared down at their enemies. They were obviously displeased. Frowning or scowling in anger, both of them seethed in seeing Archer and his friends struggle to stand once more to fight. Naruto looked to his right. A visor was on the ground. He desperately and grabbed it without delicacy. There was no time to waste and one more thing to do; he asked the fox girl for help, "Make me a -." he commanded.

"What for?" She asked.

"-." Archer mouthed seriously. Bringing out several wonderfully crafted swords, he stabbed them into different areas as well as placed the visor in another same area. The girl hastily created the - and let Archer start his chanting without interruption. He mouthed what seemed to be names, but who or what for, Shirou didn't know. What he did know was that his Servant -still getting used to that- isn't ready to surrender to those floating opponents of theirs.

* * *

><p>Naruto reminisced. Upon his death, he was greeted by Alaya, the will of mankind to survive. Naruto's Servant, Archer, warned him about the counter force. Whether it was a warning to get away from the presence or be wary of it, the orange Knight forgot. He stepped closer, wondering what the collective consciousness of mankind would want with his dead self. The overbearing silence the entity gave unnerved Naruto; a feat few have done once he became an adult. Barring the slight digression, Naruto was bombarded with images of the past, the 5th Grail War and its corrupted Grail. He had a few in mind about what he was being tasked to do.<p>

_**Destroy the Grail**_.

Huh…straight to the point. Admirable for the will of mankind to state that without buildup or preparation. He wondered to himself what would his class be if he were to be summoned in the Grail War. Will he be a Saber, Lancer, Archer, Berserker, Assassin, Caster, or Rider? He could be any of those things really, and being in any of those classes would limit his battle capabilities exponentially; a great shame.

_**You will be a combat pragmatist, a warrior who will use anything to win. You will keep the skills you**__**'**__**ve learned in your life and become a counter force to destroy the Grail.**_

Interesting…Alaya would give him his skills to destroy the corrupted Grail? Truly an honor to be given immunity to class restrictions. He bowed slightly in thanks for the gesture given. However… "Does this mean I'm a Counter Guardian?"

_**No. You are merely employed to take this task. You are still Gaia**__**'**__**s beast. **_

Gaia's beast…in other words, a Heroic Spirit. Hm…so he has a place in the Throne of Heroes, it seemed. "Then what of the other dimensionsexperiencing this exact dilemma?" He continued to ask. "The Second Magic surely has other parallels that are in need of being saved from the corrupt Grail. Moreover, there are an unlimited number of those parallels. How am I supposed to destroy the Grail if I'm destroying only one from one branch of the original event?" Naruto's questions seem to silence the will of mankind. Either it's thinking of possible answers, or it cannot divulge into those answers. Though he hoped that the former would happen.

_**This particular Grail would cause the extinction of all mankind. Angra Mainyu, All the World**__**'**__**s Evil, will destroy the world if not destroyed in time.**_

"Hm…" Naruto hummed with a thumb resting under his chin and the other fingers closed in a loosely made fist, while his other hand supported his other elbow. "So it seems you are in charge of merely keeping the existence of mankind within the parallels…do I have that assumption right?"

_**Yes. The Grail will inevitably be corrupted. I make the necessary preparations to ensure mankind isn**__**'**__**t destroyed by the calamity. The Grail, should you fail, will cause a major cataclysmic stagnation, then degeneration, and finally extinction. **_

"Yikes…" Naruto cringed at the responsibility he'd been given to shoulder. "Way to lay it on thick, Alaya."

_**This is the will of mankind of mankind you**__**'**__**re talking to, Spirit. I wouldn**__**'**__**t even consider you for this job or other exemplary Spirits and favor my own agents to this unless it**__**'**__**s a drastic event like this. This extinction will not stop at humans, it will wipe out all life in the planet, something Gaia would not want to happen so casually. You, Beast of Gaia, must stop this or your world will be the same as the red planet.**_

'_Red planet? That__'__s not possible. So if I fail, that__'__s what will happen to that branch of the past?_' He pondered the situation critically. All of his skills would be present; none would be locked away, and he could use all of them, which was perfect considering Archer told him about Berserker, the same one he fought last night. Those A-ranked Noble Phantasms will help in defeating him. As for the lesser Grail, Illyasviel von Einzbern…

Her heart would be the key to create the actual Grail, at least the Lesser one. If she isn't used as a sacrifice, then the Lesser Grail can't be made. Then again, there's also the big alternative, which is killing her, then burning her heart. As shown by their encounter with the girl, she had an abundant amount of Od in those magic circuits of hers in order to supply Berserker with Mad Enhancement. So there were two options he could take here, keep Illya safe, or regrettably kill her.

He heard the stories about Illya from Archer. Apparently, she was his sister, a child left alone by her father, Archer's father, whom adopted him. She grew resentful after she was 'abandoned' after her father lost the 4th War. The Einzbern family took to teaching her to be a proper Magus while growing resentment for the adopted child of Kiritsugu Emiya. If he's summoned by anyone, Counter Guardian Archer's Master, Rin Tohsaka would be compatible with him in terms of the ability of handling him and his deviating tendencies. In terms of personality, Shirou Emiya, Archer, would be compatible with him. That is…if Avalon doesn't become the catalyst. Digressing over that, if he's summoned by Illya herself, then it'd be a simple matter of protecting her. Having considered the most likely possibilities, Naruto nods.

"I'll do it." He said with confidence, "I'll become your counter agent just this once, Alaya. For the world, I will fight to my last breath. It only seems fair that a Spirit of exceptional skill performs the task unlike those inadequate Counter Guardians, who cause way too much trouble than necessary to do the job." Alaya seemed to ignore the jab aimed at its Counter Guardians, but Naruto was sure there was a hint of fury inside the will of mankind. While not a pretty sign, it didn't matter. Alaya was duty first before all else.

_**Perfect. Win the War, and destroy the Grail. **_

Alaya said those last words as a command. If Naruto didn't learn anything martial from his Servants, he did learn how to be chivalrous, a flirt (a horrible one), be a strict mediator, and as he just displayed, snarky. Naruto could just imagine the thumbs up he'd get from Archer and his Counter Guardian version as he made that snide remark against Alaya, but it was only speculation, nothing more, nothing less. He doubt he'd see either version in the Throne of Heroes because they are arranged by timeline, meaning he's somewhere in the infinite expanse of time. Once the will of mankind disappeared, Naruto was transported to his throne. An orange throne decorated with lines of gold and blue and his trials and tribulations was displayed before him.

To the throne's left, a lion, Kiritsugu, named in memory of Archer's father, sat quietly, almost asleep. To the right, a giant white dragon with giant golden horns on its head and fins covering almost its entire body, Kiryuuin stood, er…floated in vigilance. These were his two animals friends he'd found and raised during his travel. Kiritsugu was a lion much larger than regular ones. As for Kiryuuin, his species, Amatsumaguchi, storm dragons that lived in the upper atmosphere, he found it as a meteorite. The memory stings a little. He shook his head, wiping away the memory, and patted both beasts' heads before taking a seat in his throne.

Now he had to wait in silence, wondering which Master would summon him.

'_It__'__ll be difficult killing the Einzbern in cold blood._' Naruto said to himself, '_I__'__ll take my chances in protecting her._' With that decision, he closed his eyes and fell asleep. He'd only wake up to answer the call of his summons.

* * *

><p>"Master. Wake up." Archer ordered. He shook the sleeping body of Shirou Emiya, his Master. Shire stirred slightly from his slumber. Archer took note that his Master hadn't changed from his bloodied uniform. Archer shook Shirou some more, eliciting a groan from the teen.<p>

"Mm…Archer. What time is it?" Shirou groggily asked while refusing to sit up.

"Four in the morning." Archer answered.

"Eh?" Shirou opened his eyes and sat up. "Really? Why are you waking me up so early, Archer." He questioned his Servant's decision to wake him from his wonderful sleep. "What's so important that I need to be woken up at this ungodly hour?"

"I want to see if you can summon me properly."

"What? But I already summoned you, didn't I?" Shirou said in confusion. Archer shook his head.

"That's why I said 'properly'." Archer emphasized. "The reason for my lowered stats is due to the fact that you summoned me out of instinct, and not from a proper incantation. A proper summoning always yields to a better result." Shirou nodded in understanding, at least somewhat. "You summoned me without a catalyst, an object tied to a Servant. When the Grail summons a Servant, if the Master has no catalyst, it will choose the Servant through compatibility."

"So you're going to make me do the summoning properly using your catalyst, correct?"

"Indeed. Now, let us go to the site of my summoning and do this quick. The quicker we're done with this, the better the chance nobody notices anything out of the blue." Both men walked to the shed briskly. Though they spoke of one thing that bothered or interested Shirou. He looked at his Servant's hair, resembling the unkempt mane of his lion, and it stimulated the following observation he came to remember but did not pursue last night.

"Archer." Shirou called to his Servant.

"Hm? What is it, Master?" Archer replied with his own query.

"That lion you summoned last night, Kiritsugu." Shirou started saying. Archer made an 'ah' gesture because he knew where thins conversation would head. He listened silently to see what his Master would ask of him. "It sounds Japanese in origin. And judging from your appearance, you aren't from Japanese descent." Archer looked surprised at his Master's observation skills.

"I found Kiritsugu as a cub. I raised it along with my friends. One of them suggested the name. I liked the suggestion, and so, that's my lion's name. As for your second statement, you could consider me a half-breed or something along the lines. My father has western origins whereas my mother had more of an oriental appearance." Archer explained his origins vaguely; though Shirou deemed it adequate enough for now.

Once they arrived, Archer handed his Master one of his Pauldrons and told him to place it within the circle that seemed to fade away after its initial use.

"So what do I do?" Shirou asked Archer, who handed him a small note. Where he got the paper and pencil to write down the words, the young man didn't know.

"Read it." Archer said, "The summoning will do the rest." Shirou looked at the note with a hint of suspicion. The Grail War seemed like a mess judging from what he saw last night. Scratch mess, the War was more like disaster from the initial battles he witnessed. He had to kill Servants to win. Not really him per se, but it would be under his command that Archer would kill enemy Servants. Reluctantly, Shirou recited the incantation.

_**Let silver and steel be the essence.**_

_**Let stone and the archduke of contracts be the foundation.**_

_**Let red be the color I pay tribute to.**_

_**Let rise a wall against the wind that shall fall.**_

_**Let the four cardinal gates close.**_

_**Let the three-forked road from the crown reaching unto the Kingdom rotate.**_

_**Let it be filled. Again. Again. Again. Again.**_

_**Let it be filled fivefold for every turn, simply breaking asunder with every filling.**_

_**Let my will create thy body and thy sword create my fate.**_

_**If thou dost accede to this will and reason, answer me!**_

_**I hereby swear,**_

_**I will be all that is good in the eternal world,**_

_**I will be the disposer of evil in the eternal world.**_

_**Thou clad with the Great Trinity,**_

_**Come forth from the circle of restraint,**_

_**Guardian of the Heavenly scales**__**!**_

The magic circle glowed a heavenly blue, and the light bathed the room in the very same color. Archer thought something was wrong; he wasn't experiencing the sensation of being pulled by an invisible force all summonings tended to do. Archer guessed that the circle ignored his catalyst for another more powerful one. He had only one extremely plausible idea which catalyst the circle used. However, it should be impossible; all seven had been summoned already. Any more, and Shirou would die from the exhaustion!

Archer palmed his Master's back, and forced his Master's circuits to come alive like neon green streaks emerging from his back. To alleviate any extraneous stress from the summoning, the more magic circuits active would allow for a less life-threatening experience. Hopefully the catalyst would heal him quickly. The glow blinded the two men, and once it disappeared, a woman the Shirou saw in his dream last night appeared. Archer guessed right; if he wasn't being summoned, she was the only other reason.

"I ask of you, are you my Master? Servant Saber has answered your summons." The woman asked. Archer looked stunned to see a second Saber be summoned to this Grail War, and be the eighth Servant no less. This just screams destabilization. Archer surmised that the corruption is far stronger than he imagined if the Grail allowed a second Saber to be summoned as an eighth Servant in a battle of Seven classes. Said Servants of the other classes sensed the disturbance; something destroyed the rule of Seven. One other 'Servant' in particular recognized the presence as the same Servant from ten years ago.

"Y-yes? I am Shirou Emiya." Shirou stammered. Despite this being his second summoning, he still hadn't gotten used to that question.

"Then the pact is forged. My blade shall hencef- Servant?!" Saber poised her blade at Archer. She was ready to strike him down for her Master.

"Saber…I am Master's Servant as well." Saber stiffened, but did not point the invisible sword away. "It may seem impossible, but you are summoned by Master. In fact you should know me. Though it seems the Grail summoned you from a time where you haven't met me. Let me show you." Saber backed away slowly as a form of caution, and her invisible blade was gripped a little more tighter. His voice calmed her slightly; however, her guard, which slowly deteriorated, stayed. Something in her mind told her that the Servant before her could be trusted. It also helped that the Servant before her donned the look of a Knight. Archer cautiously placed his hands on Saber's forehead. '_Mind helping me out?_' he asked something inside his head. Saber's eyes widened as Archer's memories implanted themselves inside Saber's mind. The most prominent event, her fight with Archer replayed several times. "Now do you recognize me, Saber-nee?"

Saber lowered her blade, and smirked. "Quite the happenings, Archer." She placed a hand on her hip, "So I'm the eighth Servant, it seems. You certainly get yourself into quite the trouble, don't you?" Her smile reassures Archer that what he did was successful. "So did you reactivate his dormant circuits?" Archer nodded, and Saber returned the gesture. "Good. It'd be terrible if our Master perished as soon as he summoned me. He doesn't have the same amount of circuits as you do. If you hadn't done that, then he really would suffer an unwanted death."

Shirou stared with mouth agape. He would've died? What's even worse, they're talking about such a serious thing like death as if it was nothing?! If they're his Servants, then shouldn't they be worried about his wellbeing?!

"Ara…? Saber-nee, are you learning the ways of snark?" Archer mockingly asked. "Did _he_ teach you how to snark?" Archer leaned forward in anticipation at finally seeing the King of Knights actually being something else than honorable.

"He did say that I needed to get with the times." Saber retorted. She sighed, "Honestly, I still favor how I usually act. A Knight is never one to snark or make snide comments about a person." Saber stated with finality. She turned to Shirou and kneeled like her Knights would to her, "As I was saying, Master, henceforward, my sword shall be your fate. I shall protect you with all my might. No doubt Archer will do the same, isn't that so, Archer?"

Archer kneeled beside her, and followed Saber's example. "Indeed, I too will do all I can to protect you." Archer answered with a steel conviction, "However, with you obtaining two Servants, you only have the supply to maintain one constantly. Even so, your low amount of Prana won't be able to properly sustain one of us. Your amount of Prana is also quite low that Saber won't be able to receive the supply, at least at a constant flow. And with your inadequate skill as a magus, Saber's stats have declined considerably, or at least as stats unbecoming of a Saber-class Servant." Shirou stared at Archer silently while he took in every bit of information given. "Also in your case, Saber cannot disappear like I can. Therefore, she'll take up most of your supply of Prana, and will need a set of clothes." The boy blushed at the image he created in his mind. Saber was without a doubt mesmerizing. Flawless skin, glossy, golden hair, and a petite body that make her a dangerous Teddy Bear in his eyes. Unknowingly, he let out a small smile, which both Servants noticed. Archer glanced over at Saber, who smiled at their Master's reaction.

But then, Shirou realized something, "If I can only supply one Servant, then how will you survive, Archer?"

"An excellent question, Master." Archer said, "I will use my Independent Action skill to survive." Shirou raised an eyebrow at that. What did Independent Action mean? Archer continued, "It means I can reject the supply, which you can't even give, and live off without the need for those things for an indefinite amount of time. In layman's terms, I can stay here as long as I want even if you're dead. I won't let that happen to you though." Archer added the last part quickly in order to reassure his Master that everything would be fine. "Besides that, the only time I'll need a constant supply of Prana is if I want to be able to use my Noble Phantasms."

"So…"

"So it means that you'll 'supply' Saber most of the time, and I will be a free bird."

"I see. So in a way, this is the most logical and safest way I'll stay alive with two Servants, is it?" Shirou asked as a means to see if he comprehended the information. Both Servants nodded. "Okay… Then we'll need an alibi for Saber."

"An alibi?" Archer asked. "Wha- Oh…You're right. We do need a proper alibi for Saber. You aren't the only one living in this house of yours, right?"

"Technically, I live alone, but I do have frequent visitors in the morning and afternoons." Shirou answered. "One of them is my Kouhai, the other, a freeloading Sensei." Archer snorted at his Master's depiction of the latter's Sensei. "They'll be sure to notice a foreigner in my house."

"Yeah, no kidding." Archer said sarcastically while rolling his eyes at the obviousness. Saber slapped his shoulder, eliciting a recoiled reaction from the orange Knight, who caressed the spot affected. Saber gave Archer a look of fury that terrified him. He reeled back as if to say '_Okay__…__! I get it._'

"Then there's also you." Shirou added, "Being my Servant means that we'll have to interact in public at some point. So we'll need to think of an alibi just for you. But what could be some believable scenarios that could get both of you off the hook?" He rested a hand on his chin and adopted a thinking pose. "There has to be some credulous alibi that has to work."

* * *

><p>"Huh? A tutor?" One Taiga Fujimura, Freeloader Extraordinaire, asked while inspecting the man before her. Next to him, a woman sat silently. Her piercing gaze tries to instill fear into both, but failed. Both were foreigners, had blonde hair and fair skin. The man looked quite rigid and mature, as if he was a sculpture, and looked to be around his late twenties; though the whisker marks on his face degraded the idea. The man, Shirou's supposed tutor, smiled at her in that exotic, and blissful smile; her heart thumped a bit. She looked back at the woman, who resembled a delicate flower with that petite body of hers and looked to be no older than sixteen.<p>

"Yes, Fujimura-san." Archer, under the guise of the name 'Erik Gunther,' replied, "Young Shirou here asked me to tutor him into the more complex intricacies of the English language. I was unaware of the fact that you were one, and I understand that you are an English teacher of remarkable skill. Please excuse my transgressions; I feel terrible to intrude on your job." He bowed to the energetic woman, shocking her because of the action, and because he spoke in fluent -eloquent- Japanese. Taiga displayed a blank face that neither Shirou of his Kouhai, Sakura, could identify. The Kendo practitioner shuddered slightly. Sakura Matou brushed her shoulder-length, straight, purple hair, and cautiously grabbed her teacher's shuddering shoulder.

Completely unexpected, Taiga puts her hands to her cheeks and swayed left and right while trying to hide her embarrassment. "AAAWWWW! I'm not furious Mister Gunter! I'm totally- no EXTREMELY fine with you tutoring Shirou. I admit I can be a handful at times, and some of the material goes over my students' heads because of the energy I just release. its one of the biggest flaws I have as a teacher and I-" she kept on blabbering nonstop, and 'Erik' had learned to tune it out. He realized this woman was weak to too much praise or respect. Either that or his dashing good looks or fluency in Japanese charmed her. Shirou had his mouth comically wide open. Never…never had he seen his elder sister figure act this way! He had to be dreaming; he just had to! Never in his life did he ever think that the Tiger would become domesticated by a man, a foreigner no less!

"_How cruel of you, Erik._" Saber, under the name of 'Clarisse Gunther,' whispered to her 'younger brother'. She had yet to reveal herself as the older on out of the two of them. Though, in the back of her mind, she could falsify her age to properly safeguard Shirou from the enemy Masters and Servants in school. "Toying with a woman's heart like so... It's unbecoming for a man like you to do such a thing to her." Erik turned to his sister, and gave her a narrow stare.

"I understand your reason for being her, but what about her?!" Taiga pointed to Clarisse with a shaky index finger and arm trying to stay stiff while pointing at its target. The woman in question leaned back as if trying to stay away from the offending finger. "As Shirou's guardian, I cannot allow a woman to get close to Shirou. I cannot allow your younger sister to be here." Shirou raised an eyebrow at that, then instantly blushed. Sakura stood flabbergasted at her teacher's implication.

"Ah..." Erik monotonously said, "Clarisse is my older sister, Fujimura-san." He stated as a matter of fact. "I'm younger than her. She's twen-" Before he could finish, he received a punch from his sister. The fist that dealt the damage shook and bathed in fury. She stood menacingly with her fist in the air.

"What did I tell you about revealing a woman's age?!" She growled out. Erik stared impassively, and returned to the conversation at hand. He did not want to start a childish argument such as something as simple as discussing her age. The action irked Clarisse, but did not choose to pursue conflict by pressing on with the childish interrogation.

"As you can see, she's the older one." He said with the subtle hint of sarcasm that he'd been taught to recognize and utilize. Saber scowled uncharacteristically, and fumed at Archer's words, "If you still don't want her to be here, spar with her in Kendo. She practiced fencing, and dabbled for a couple of years in Kendo. I heard from Shirou here that you are an excellent practitioner of the art of swordplay, and that there's a dojo you can use to practice. It should prove to quite interesting, no?"

Shirou wanted to say "How does a fight justify her stay?" but then realized by pointing out this little fact might prevent him from seeing Saber's skill in action; that and the fact that this little fact would be effectively ignored.

"Your older sister?" Taiga asked, "She practices Kendo?" Somewhere in the back of her mind, her inner desire to fight peaked at an all time high. The woman in front of her, a foreigner, practiced Kendo. Her inner tiger -despite all she might try to deny it- bared her claws and fangs at the thought of wielding her Torashinai against this 'dangerous' woman. In more simple thinking, she thought Sakura was a better woman that would catch Shirou's eyes than the foreigner in front of her. Oh look at her, jumping on the S.S. Sakura Emiya. With a huff, she agreed, and both left the dining room to go to the dojo.

Saber stood ready with a Shinai in her hand, and her stance perfected. Taiga praised her for such attention to detail in form. She stared at her opponent; calm, collected, and fierce, Saber gripped the Shinai firmly as a signal to show she's prepared. However…

"Are you seriously not going to wear any armor?" Taiga asked. Saber wore the same outfit she'd been given the first time she'd been summoned as Shirou's Servant, which was a knee-length skirt, a white, long-sleeved blouse, and a black pantyhose. She turned to Archer. "Mister Erik, please show your sister reason. She could get hurt!" Archer waved it off as nothing, and told her she could handle herself.

"She'll be fine, Fujimura-san. Her teacher told her that her skill fit with the capacity of Knights of the European Medieval era. She'll be fine. Trust me."

Taiga looked worried as Archer's dismissal, and reluctantly turned to Saber. "First to a victory point wins. Okay?" Saber nodded and narrowed her eyes in focus. Her rigid form stood atop the loose balls of her feet, ready to spring at any time like a Jack in the Box. Like her, Taiga took her stance. With Shirou as the referee, he signaled the start of the fight.

Saber sprung forwards, her Shinai right above her to strike Taiga's head. The Tiger blocks it, and slides her Shinai to force Saber's to move away from her head. She pushed Saber off, and returned the favor by aiming a slash at her sides. Saber swung to her right, and parried the attack, pinning the Torashinai's point to the ground. She quickly raised her sword to once again aim it at Taiga's head. The Kendo practitioner aimed her slash at the same spot, and both bamboo swords meet in a deadlock.

"Wow…Clarrise-san is quite talented in Kendo to be able to force Fujimura-sensei on the defensive." Sakura said in awe. Archer didn't say anything as he already knew this is what would happen. Besides, the girl next to him was more important. The purple hair reminded him of Mel. He inwardly sighed; Second Magic is a pain to accept, but he's here, and staring at him right in the face. He missed them, his Servants. They were his loyal subjects, but family first and foremost. Though some of them were his lovers. He smiled at the memory of his girls hugging him so tight he thought he'd die the best way, in the bosom of his lovers.

His reminiscent thoughts were broken by Saber's mighty yell. She'd slashed at Taiga's side; however, the woman blocked and retaliated. The fight favored neither side, and Saber saw the woman's skill shine far more brighter here than the first time they'd sparred. The sound of bamboo meeting echoed hollowly with each clash. Their slashes seemed wild; however, to the trained eye, these were precise, expertly executed strikes meant to incapacitate. Saber's skill as a Knight prevented any incoming attacks from hitting her. The same can be said for Taiga. Both women strived for a victory, and the spectators could clearly see it in both their faces.

Saber stepped back, allowing Taiga's swing to narrowly miss her side. As she missed, Saber lunged forward once again aiming to hit the woman's head. As if following some program, Taiga reacted quickly, blocking the attack. Saber raised her sword and repeated the action again, and again, and again. Taiga blocked all of them, and at the fifth time, Saber held the Shinai in a reverse grip. The force of the attack visibly bent Torashinai more than it could possibly take, yet it still kept its form. Saber slid the sword down, and returned her grip to its original position. She kept her sword to her right, leading Taiga to defend her left. When Saber raised her sword, Taiga instinctively blocked overhead. Saber swung downwards, but aimed left, confusing Taiga for that single moment. Saber stepped forward, and twisted her body to the right, her sword following its flight plan accordingly. Mere inches away from Taiga's unguarded side, Saber's Shinai stopped.

Shirou raised his hand, "Winner, Sa-Clarrise Gunther!" Archer gave a knowing smirk towards Taiga, who frowned at her loss, but blushed under Archer's unknowingly effective smiles.

'_It has to be his foreign looks!_' Taiga concluded, '_It__'__s the only reason why I__'__m reacting to his__…__gorgeous and innocent and dashing looks._' She shook her head. '_No! I must not fall to corruption!_' Archer did not see Taiga's various and entertaining facial expressions unlike Shirou, still gawking at Taiga's out of character reactions. The English teacher turned to Saber, "For someone who's dabbled into Kendo, you sure know how to fight in the style."

Saber bowed, "I thank you for the compliment. Kiritsugu-san taught me during one of his trips abroad."

"Eh? You know Kiritsugu-san?" Taiga questioned, "How?"

Archer butted in, "Our mother is good friends with the man. He'd give us souvenirs from Japan when we were little while he'd go on about his business in banking or whatever it was they talked about. We wondered why he never visited us for ten years. I moved on and became a teach or tutor of English. And it seems my sister here wanted to delve into what happened with Kiritsugu-san." He turned to Saber, "Seriously, I did not expect you to go to Japan just for a reason like this."

Saber, catching on to the alibi, retorted, "I'm a grown woman, Erik. I can choose to go where I want to go." She cemented the idea by placing her hands on her hips, the opposite of what she tried to convey.

Archer snickered while leaning his back on the wall, "Not with your height you aren't." Without even opening his eyes, he knew Saber fumed at his words. If one were to compare her height, Saber looked to be approximately a head shorter than their Master. He then sensed Saber hammering her Shinai at his head. Years of being taught to counter a blade, Archer grabbed a Shinai in the rack conveniently next to him. Archer parried the blow, and kept doing it as Saber kept on slashing at him. "Geez…Calm down, Claire. So what if you're on the short side? You look fabulous enough to charm any guy you want. Though with your actual age…" In his mutterings, he earned a mighty Thwack to the head. "Ow! Okay, I deserve that, but did you have to do it so hard?" He cradled his head to ease the pain away.

"Hmph!" Saber turned away from the injured Archer; the action was her only sign as an answer. Their Master stared at how much the two were in sync when it came to this alibi. They acted like siblings so much you'd never question it! Though they could try and act a bit more mature…

Actually…How did they know who Kiritsugu was? Shirou will have to inquire about that little known fact.

They returned to the dining room to finish their discussion. Erik had returned to the topic of being Shirou's tutor. Taiga adopted a thinking pose, and left the others waiting for five minutes with bated breath. All the suspense seemed to burn away when Taiga slammed her hands on the table. "I got it!" She yelled ecstatically, "How about you become my assistant teacher?" That got Archer's brain thinking, "Sure Homurahara Academy will need to see your credentials and such, but seeing as you're a bonafide Englishman, I'm sure you'll be hired quickly! If you get hired, but won't be an assistant, you'll be just as great a teacher because you are fluent in the english language to teach alongside me!" And then came the rest of the babble that would further explain why this would work. To Archer, it means he can keep an eye on the school and his Master; he'll just need forged diplomas and documents, and he'll be set. He could probably do it in less than a day.

"That is a better alternative than tutoring." Archer replied.

"Just don't swoon your female students and staff, Erik. We already had that problem while we were in High school and College; we don't want repeats, got it?" Taiga and Sakura had fun imagining whatever scenario they concocted in their heads when they tried to decipher what Saber meant by that. Taiga surmised a flood of women chasing after him. Sakura thought the X-rated version of what Taiga imagined; she successfully hid her furious blush from prying eyes.

"Okay, okay, Claire." He set his focus back to Taiga, "I'd like to take up on your offer. Just give me a day or two to gather my documents. It has been a while since I've actually shown them, and no doubt they had gathered dust after all these years inside mother's house."

"You left your documents in England?" Taiga asked, somewhat suspicious now that Archer said he left the vital documents that allowed a person to teach.

"Well to be fair, I wanted to take a vacation before settling in Fuyuki City. I didn't expect myself to offer myself to teach Shirou had I not found the Emiya residence during one of my morning strolls, nor did I expect to be in this present situation." Archer defended himself, quickly making excuses left and right to keep up the alibi he'd forged to seamlessly. Inwardly, he knew to be wary of Shirou's guardian. She had a lot of insight despite acting like a goof; something he'd know for he was once a troublesome individual as a child. Taiga seemed to accept that answer and returned to her seat.

"Ah, Fujimura-Sensei, we must go! Early club practice will start soon." Sakura stated, completely putting the previous topic negligible for the moment. Archer mentally sighed. He didn't know how he could come up with believable excuses in such short notice. He hypothesized it having to do with his previous occupation, and it seemed to be the best candidate. Other than that, it could be attributed to how well he can pull anything out of his ass. Seriously, how convenient was it that a lot of his enemies were defeated by one well-placed Rasengan with an equally unique and convenient power-boost of some sort?

B-rank luck… Thank goodness Shirou was incompetent -not really appropriate to say. If he were a better Master, Archer was sure that his luck would rise to A+++ and almost everything would become a Deus Ex Machina! The Shinai rack next to him was just a small sign of his luck rank.

"I gotta go as well. You two can (Must) stay here." Shirou said in a way that seemed like a command to his Servants. Within minutes, Shirou left the Emiya residence, and the Gunther siblings were left alone to do whatever they wish. Archer laid down on his back while Saber remembered that this happened before, left alone in the house because she couldn't dematerialize.

"So, Naruto…what will you do?" Saber queried.

"First of all, make forged documents, then scout the city, and then keep an eye out for our Master."

"I meant about Taiga. She seems infatuated with you. What'll you do about that? She can't be involved. You know that right?" She received a nod.

"I'll keep her safe if she is involved. Though it doesn't mean I'll romance her. Knowing those girls, they'll kill me if they found out I got extra members." He bitterly said those words. "She is a gem of a woman, I will admit. Whoever can handle her will be quite the guy."

Saber ignored the last sentence, seeing as she won't get anymore informations from him, "You seem to have your agenda taken care of, but it seems there's something more you're leaving out. Tell me."

* * *

><p>In school, Shinji Matou, Sakura's brother, strolled in a hallway back and forth, and panicked the whole time. He started his messy purple hair in frustration. If he felt that, then everyone else surely felt that. His hands balled up a pair of fists. "Who summoned that eighth Servant?" That occupied his mind at the moment. If one of the seven somehow summoned an eighth Servant, then that Master has the biggest advantage at the moment. He bit his thumb, how can Rider manage a second of any of the classes? She looked weak. Why was she a Heroic Spirit? Why was Sakura the Master? If anything, he's the true Master; Sakura wouldn't hurt a fly.<p>

And he went on a tangent. If Rider will get a fighting chance, he'll need to activate the Blood Fort soon. And with Tohsaka as a Master attending the school, he knows he has to do it very soon to balance the scales enough that Rider has a fifty-fifty chance of winning against Tohsaka's Servant. Even worse, he knew Tohsaka had been meddling in his Magic circles by dismantling them. It's surprising Edelfelt hadn't done anything about his magic circles despite him knowing her being a Magus. "This is the worst possible thing that could happen right now… Rider!" He called to 'his' Servant, who appeared in a purple haze.

Beautiful, silky purple hair that ran the length of her body was the biggest and most defining detail about the woman. She wore a black tube dress with a dark purple trim at the top. Conforming to the color scheme, she also wore a pair of detached sleeves with purple straps at the top and wristbands, while for the bottom, she wore a pair of black thigh-high boots with a purple trim and armor at theta of her feet. On her face, a purple blindfold covered her eyes, and above it, a strange design was etched. "Yes, Shinji?" She asked.

"We might need to activate the Blood Fort Andromeda today." Shinji said while scowling. "I wanted to do it later to show it off, but we might need to do it today just to keep you in the game." Rider stood there listening to Shinji's every word. He wanted her to be strong enough to combat the mysterious eighth Servant summoned just this morning. She'd already tried to investigate the area surrounding the summoning, but she couldn't penetrate the powerful bounded field meant to keep a Servant away. She knew the caster of the field wanted to know his/her presence to be known. Before those, she breach three, nearly undetectable fields crafted with expert skill, warning her to stay away. At the last field, she wondered what those warnings were for because nothing happened to her neither physically or mentally. It either meant that if she continued to break through, the caster would retaliate, or lightning ambush. It was a futile attempt, so she left.

"Understood, Shinji." She said before disappearing into her spirit form.

In the distance, a Servant shrouded in the darkness of the forest fizzled away into nothingness to report his findings to his Master. All the mysterious Servant said before disappearing was, "Archer…"

* * *

><p>Rin sat at the rooftop, and scanned the placid blue sky and halcyon clouds. In contrast, her mind held dark thoughts regarding Shirou. He didn't deserve Archer as his Servant. Compatible, maybe, but his poor skills as a Magus and Master will lead his Servant to ruin. She had to know if he was worthy, if he could handle a Servant of Archer's caliber. Lily wouldn't respond to her when she told the Knight her idea in the morning. It seemed that her pride as a Knight was far more important.<p>

Then there's the strange summoning. '_An eighth Servant__…_' She pondered if it was possible at all. The Servant system only allowed for one of each class to appear. If so, what happened in order to bend the rules? If it isn't a Servant from the seven classes, then could the mysterious Servant be from the lost classes of the Third War? During her internal ramblings, she felt a presence stalk her, and she knew who it was. "I know you're there, Archer." Rin spoke out loud. "Reveal yourself. Why stalk your ally?"

"You bear ill will against my Master, and had half a mind to act on that impure will. You speak about being allies while thinking about those things. You've quite a strange definition for an ally, Tohsaka-san." Archer said nonchalantly, "I have to keep an eye on you. It's not that difficult to keep you both in check." Rin frowned; she knew that Archer meant that he's using his duplication ability to keep tabs on both of them. Try all she might, Archer seemed to have a knack for placing priority over things at appropriate times. He wasn't a total fool of a Servant.

"You're absolutely right." Archer shifted his stance from a relaxed one to a prepared one. The Tohsaka admired that despite the annoying Servant's actions, he prioritized the safety of his Master, "I wish to test him. I want to know how skilled the Master of Archer is for myself. I want to know if he's worthy of being your Master. Now ride along, Dragon Rider."

"Dragon Rider?" Archer asked. He smirked; the girl was good. She already figured out why he has a EX-ranked riding skill. "Amazing. That's one out of…I lost count of NPs I have. Good luck figuring our who I am!" He smiled at her, "You know...I wonder what would happen should you have summoned me, Tohsaka. It'd be a strange partnership, that much I can tell. But other than that, I give you approval to do this; just don't kill him, or I will kill you."

"If he dies, then he wasn't meant to be a Master, Archer. Seriously…If he can't handle me in a fight, then how will he handle any other Servant? I'll do it after school so that no innocent bystanders and potential victims witness this." Rin answered without any hesitation.

"Okay then. Just to warn you, I have a gut feeling that an outside force will interrupt your battle. Who or what, I don't know. What I can vouch for is that besides you and Master, there are three other Masters here. And one is a poor excuse to be one."

"Ah…you must be talking about Shinji. Not to worry, he won't be a major problem." Rin dismissed the Matou as if he was an insignificant bug. The way she talked about him, belittling the arrogant Magus, she clearly despised the Matou. Though unlike the Matou, she took the other Masters seriously, "As for the other Masters, I have a feeling the foreigner transfer student is a Magus. I have no idea who the last one could be."

"So you've identified at least five of the seven Masters. Good. If I may?" He bowed and asked to leave. Rin found it odd that she couldn't place a proper personality on the Servant; it frustrated her a bit. Aloof at one point, then serious the next. Bipolar perhaps? She never heard of a Servant with a multi-personality disorder.

"You may leave, Archer. No doubt, you've some scouting to do, am I right in assuming so?" She received a wordless nod. And so, the Servant dispersed into golden flames, its embers flickering in the air like fireflies before they too disappeared. With the conversation over, she walked to the fence and scanned the area. Because of the strange occurrences in the city, students would be forced to go home as soon as the school day is over. This is the perfect time to test Shirou, who'll undoubtedly stay. "Saber." She called.

Next to her, a kneeling Saber acknowledged her call, "Yes, Master."

"I want you to investigate the magic circles of blood and dispel them." Rin ordered. "Maybe your magic resistance can properly destroy them." Saber stood and conceded to the order. The Tohsaka Master made one more comment, "I haven't had the chance to say this, but Saber…your attire fits you quite beautifully. To be the King of Knights and a woman at the same time, you don't seem to adhere to either dragons or lions because of your armor. You almost seem delicate like a Lily."

"Thank you for the compliment, Master." Saber smiled, then bowed to her Master, "Now if I may? I wish to complete the order given to me with haste."

"You are dismissed, Saber." Rin answered, "Be careful, okay?" The Knight dematerialized, not answering her Master's worry. She couldn't answer for her Master's sake. The summoning of the eighth Servant served as a bad omen to her. No doubt those other Servants are taking caution. She would have to investigate the matter soon.

* * *

><p>"Master. I come bearing news of Rider and her Master." A voice said. The Master, a blonde woman with curls going down the length of her bosom and a pair of blue ribbons turned to the voice. She straightened her Homurahara uniform and saw the cloaked owner of the voice.<p>

"Assassin." She started, "What news do you bear about Rider and her Master?"

"Shinji Matou, Rider's Master, spoke of attempting to activate a Blood Fort Andromeda." The woman gasped slightly because she recognized the name. "The reason for such action is because the Matou wants Rider strong enough to combat the mysterious eighth Servant." The Master understood Shinji's actions, but as a participant, she wouldn't allow the activation of the Noble Phantasm. "What would you have me do, Master? I hope it isn't scouting again. Rōzu has a scratch it wants to itch against a Servant. Preferably Archer."

"Assassin…you will scout for now. So stay your blade, and stick to the shadows, understood?"

* * *

><p>Shirou ran for his life a second time this week. This time it wasn't a Servant chasing after him, it was Rin, shooting at him with Gandr curses. With the smoldering craters meant to hit him, Rin obviously wanted to kill him. Completely unreasonable because, "Tohsaka! Aren't we allies?!" The moment wasted to speak allowed Rin to almost hit him. The dark red orbs cutting through the air whizzed around Shirou. Unfortunately, he couldn't avoid all of them; some of those Gandr curses tore his clothing, and even cut his sides.<p>

"I'm sorry, but with you leaving your Servants at home, this is the only possible way I can win against Archer." Shirou noted that Rin wanted to beat _Archer_, not him. The two were still running through empty hallways. Shirou struggled in trying yo evade those curses. He went as far as jumping down a flight of stairs to gain some great distance away from Rin's assault. "Your Archer is the biggest threat here. Berserker is next in that list. As such, my priority is to eliminate the problem that will hurt my chances to win the most: Archer."

Shirou turned left and entered an empty classroom, and locked both door to the room. He looked for something to use as a weapon. Rin tried entering, but the handle wouldn't allow for an intrusion from the outside. She rattled the door some more in hopes of dislodging the lock; no such luck. '_What am I going to do?_' Shirou wondered. The rattling of the door stopped, and Shirou hear Rin step back.

_**Das Schlie**__**ß**__**en Vogelk**__**ä**__**fig Echo!**_

The wall Shirou stared at created a mystical red magic circle. Shirou knew to back away quickly, and ran to the windows. The circle emitted a red shockwave of power and sparks of electricity danced along the rooms walls. Shirou crossed his arms and tried to build up enough speed to break through the windows. When he bounced back from the window, he knew he was trapped in a bounded field. '_So that__'__s her game__…_' He took a table and positioned it on its side to create a makeshift shield. The Emiya Master took a deep breath, and said, "Trace on!" Magic circuits ran wild across the table's surface, almost resembling a circuitboard as Shirou braced for the next attack.

_**Fixierung, Eilsalve!**_

The classroom wall turned into a giant rapid Gandr launcher, shooting countless orbs inside the room in hopes of killing Shirou. The young man braced as he felt the Gandr curses strike his table multiple times. With his lack of experience in strengthening, his shield deteriorated with every curse hitting it. He saw the cracks growing deeper and deeper, and almost saw it utterly destroyed. Thankfully, Rin's barrage stopped, and Shirou saw the devastation of the classroom. Upturned desks or chairs, broken metal pieces, and other debris made the room look like a bomb had exploded in the room.

"Out of Mana?" He breathlessly asked himself. '_That couldn__'__t be it. Anyways, I need a weapon. Fast!_' He checked through the debris, and saw a metal table leg just next to him. He instantly grabbed it and reinforced it. Now he needed to-

A blue gem struck the glass above the classroom doors. It glowed an intense blue. He couldn't stay in there. He had to run! He burst through the door, and evaded the explosion meant to kill him. He didn't pursue the luxury of talking to his assailant, and retreated from the explosion. "Hold it right there!" He heard Rin shout. In an instant, he skidded to a stop, and turned around. In shot a Gandr at the teen. Shirou knew that needed to focus. He swung his table leg, and hit the Gandr with enough force to throw it back at Rin's face.

"Is this how allies supposed to be?! To stab each other in the back when given the chance?!" Shirou asked in anger. "What kind of ally are you?!" He didn't want an answer as shown by him running away from the scene of battle once more.

"H-hey!"

When Shirou reached ground level, he searched for an exit, unknowingly looking for his death.

* * *

><p>Rider stalked Shirou after hearing the explosions made by Rin's Gandr. She reported to Shinji that Shirou was a Master, and she was keeping track of him. Shiji hadn't known Shirou was a Master, so for him to find out about it was a welcome news. He ordered Rider to eliminate Shirou from this War and to do it in such a way that the others would be wary of his Servant. Rider grabbed her daggers, and prepared herself to assassinate the boy. '<em>May you rest in peace, young man<em>_…_'

Shirou emerged from the school's side entrance with Gandr curses whizzing by him.

Now!

Chains rattled as it zoomed towards Shirou in blinding speeds. The Emiya Master stopped in his tracks after hearing the chains flying through the air. He gripped his weapon tightly and tried to anticipate the incoming projectile targeting him.

Archer sighed. So this is how foolish his Master was before becoming a Servant. "It seems he's in trouble, Saber-nee. Do you want to reveal yourself? It's a risky move, but I might be able to cover it up." Saber had to make a decision, and she didn't like either choice. She could save Shirou, but it'll ruin the element of surprise. As a Knight, she had to abide to Chivalry and reveal herself in honorable battle because she doesn't need to hide. "Your decision? You don't have much time, Saber-nee!"

She leapt off the roof and positioned her sword in a stabbing manner. Dropping like an anvil, she intercepted the chain and stabbed it into the ground. The dust picked up, and Saber's landing pushed Shirou back and into the school building. Behind him, Rin covered her eyes with her arm to prevent the dust from entering her eyes. "Master, are you alright?" Rin perked up at Saber's voice. Was she referring to her or to Shirou? As soon as the dust cleared, she saw Saber in a different outfit.

"I'm fine, Saber." Shirou answered.

"No way! Saber?!" Rin couldn't hide her shock. Shirou was responding to Saber? Just what is going on? There can't be two Sabers right? Then there shouldn't be a carbon copy of Saber in front of her! So why was there a copy of Saber in front of her?! She heard metal clanking on the floor of the school, and she turned to see her Saber kneeling towards her.

"You called, Master?" Saber asked in the same voice the Saber in blue used. She noticed her Master's distress, and desired to discover what ailed her Master, "What is your plight? May I be able to aid you?" Her concern, visible to Rin, did not ease her Master one bit. Whatever confused her, Rin insisted on looking at Saber to whatever the thing was over in the distance.

"Huh?" Rin intelligently said, "W-what? If y-you're Saber, then…then who's she?!" She freaked out and pointed to the Saber in blue. Saber became petrified at the sight. That hair fashioned exactly like hers, those jade eyes that reflect like glass… Who was she? Who was this impostor standing before her? What type of Magecraft is this? What caused this blasphemy to happen in the Grail War?

"Hello, enemy Master. I am Servant Saber." The Saber of Blue stated.

"Servant…Saber…" Rin repeated.

"Impossible!" Saber of White growled. "Impostor! Caster, dispel your trickery, and face me properly! Show me your true face dishonorable Servant!" Her rage boiled at the sight of her doppelgänger. It can only be Caster's work that can create replicas of a Master. It has to be. There's no other possible reason

Assassin hid in the shadows, taking note of what was happening. Two Sabers… It seemed the mysterious eighth Servant was Saber, and the copy of the Saber in white. Or was it the other way around. He gripped his sword, Rōzu tightly. "Saber…" He stayed there, taking in every detail in order to give a complete report to her Master.

Archer palmed his face. Mentally, he laughed hysterically. '_Oh Fate__…__you love screwing people over, don__'__t cha? Ah perfect, just perfect!_' On the outside, he was disappointed. A perfect surprise wasted on the same day it occurred. She could have appeared later, and tipped the scales towards Shirou, but as of at that moment, other Masters will now be able to create countermeasures against her. "Well…as they say-" Archer breathed deeply, "-Let the games begin." He jumped down, and started to pursue his Master's assailant.

_**And that**__**'**__**s a wrap, folks. Here**__**'**__**s Night 2. I hope my explanation worked. I admit that my knowledge of the Nasuverse is limited, but I make do with what I can. **_

_**So what do you think? Review, follow, favorite, I don**__**'**__**t care. **_

_**Happy -Almost- New Year! This is Azure signing off.**_


	3. Night 2 part 2

_**And we**__**'**__**re back with the next update for this Fanfic. I hope my explanation has gone and solved questions about Archer**__**'**__**s capabilities, so unless any of you have any further questions about the topic, ask. So without further ado, let**__**'**__**s start the chapter!**_

_**Disclaimer: first chapter**_

Night 2 part 2

Archer could feel the breeze framing his face as he descended upon Rider. Archer reached for his sword, and then willed it to turn into its bow form. The blade splits at the middle, peeling back like one would see from a multipurpose weapon like Archer possessed. One of the split blades was removed and placed on the other end of the handle, locking the piece in place. Once done so, several metal pieces moved around, lengthening the ends and lessening the curvature, forming the bow's frame, a longbow. To finish the transformation, a thin string of Prana connected from one point to the other. He opened his right hand, and three standard arrows appeared between his fingers. He placed those arrows on the bow, and drew the string. Underneath his now equipped visor, he reinforced his eyes, and aimed when he saw a blindfolded woman holding the chains that meant to kill her Master.

"I am the bone of my sword!" The arrows merged together in a twisting fashion, making ridges like a helix. Lightning surged around the modified arrow bolt, and wind twisted as if the bolt controlled the very essence of a storm. "Tear her apart, Arashi!" He released the bolt, and it sped past mach speeds, where it shook the school building quite considerably, and broke all the windows in its proximity while making a tornado of cataclysmic proportions as it headed for Rider.

The woman heard Archer's words, and dodged in time, completely avoiding the sphere of storm once the arrow make impact with the ground. Red lightning surged outwards like a shockwave, and it almost reached Rider's chains. '_Archer?_' she thought, '_It has to be if the attack came in the form of an arrow__…_' Archer landed into the storm, dispersing like nothing happened. She inspected her assailant, an orange Archer with an appearance akin to a Knight. '_How peculiar._' She mused. "And what do I owe the pleasure, Archer?" She sultrily asked to Archer.

Archer propped his longbow on his shoulder. In his right hand, a Chinese Dao with the color scheme of Yang, twirled around through his motions. "Nice to meet you, Gorgon." Rider stiffened at Archer's words. She had been identified already? He gave her a smirk, slightly irking her, "As for your question, you attempted to kill my Master. As such, I'm here to deal your punishment. But first, do you fancy a dance?" He bowed to Rider casually, and it effectively confused her. Archer's voice held malice, yet his question held mischief as if he's mocking her. What a strange personality this Archer has…

"A dance, you say?" Rider said neutrally, "It's not my choice to accept your request, Servant of the bow. My Master must order me so." She explained all she needed without a rise of emotion. As shown from the initial strike, Archer had dominance over all ranges. If he wasn't bluffing with that sword, then she would be under unfavorable conditions.

"I see. You do mean Sakura Matou when you speak of 'Master', right?" Rider gritted her teeth; how did this Archer know these things? Just who was this Servant? She held her daggers in a reverse grip, ready to strike on Shinji's signal. "I know about these things because of your stats. Your current 'Master' weakened you." Rider sighed at how true the comment was, "Incompetent, unreliable, insignificant, and arrogant little Shinji Matou is holding you back, Rider. Your true Master's command spells were taken away, am I right in assuming so?" He received a wordless affirmative, "I'd like to assist you in returning you to your proper Master, Gorgon, I really do. However, your actions can't be forgiven, and so I must act accordingly." He lowered his bow, and twirled the sword in greater speeds.

Rider, still taking her battle stance, spoke once more, "Before we commence the battle, let me ask this one question: The one who stopped my dagger, is she the eighth Servant?"

Archer sighed, and had a mental chat with Saber of Blue, "_Saber-nee, there is still a chance that I can salvage this, and keep your identity as the eighth Servant a secret. Will you let me do it?_" He asked her. When he received a yes, he shifted himself to the left, allowing Rider to see what went on with Shirou, Rin, and both Sabers.

The Saber of Blue, dispersed into a cloud of smoke, and inside it, Archer covered his mouth in futile attempt to conceal his laughter. The wind picked up, carrying the smoke away to reveal Archer's clone snickering at first, the laughing uncontrollably, "Hah! I got ya, Tohsaka-san, Saber-chan! You should have seen the look on your faces! Priceless! Oh man…if only I had a camera to remember it by." He laughed some more, confusing Shirou, Shinji and Rider, and embarrassing Assassin with the use of parlor tricks. The clone continued laughing until he was forced to dispel after being punched by Rin.

"As you can see, it's nothing more than trick of mine." Archer explained as he took a battle stance, "Now, is your curiosity sated, Gorgon? Because my patience has dwindled significantly as of right now." He threw the sword at Rider, and she chucked her dagger at it, throwing it off course, but ultimately returning to its master's hand. Archer strapped his bow onto his back, and created another identical sword, the Yin to the other's Yang. Once again he threw the swords, forcing Rider to dodge. He created another set, which astounded Rider, and threw them at Rider. The four swords twirled around Rider like snakes striking at opportune moments.

Rider struggled dodging the swords. They had their own magnetic fields, and they revolved around her like she was the sun. She didn't expect Archer's advance come so soon when the Servant of the bow retrieved one of his swords and used it to slash at her while she focused on evading the other flying blades. He went ahead and took another and positioned himself on the offensive because of the pressure he unleashed on Rider. The woman, in an attempt to lose the homing swords, used her chains to smack the weapons away from her, allowing herself room to breathe. The flying set disappeared into the void, while the ones in Archer's hands were used in expert conjunction, slashing at any openings Rider created while dodging.

She threw one of her daggers to skewer Archer. Unfortunately, she marginally missed, and Archer grabbed the dagger for a return trip to Rider's abdomen. She tilted her body away, and made the dagger impale the ground instead. She used her other dagger in hopes of getting a different outcome, but no such luck. Weaponless, Rider used her chain to restrain Archer. She pulled out the dagger from the ground by whipping the chain at Archer. The orange Servant raised his left arm to block it, but the weapon wrapped around it. Only then did Rider realize her mistake.

Archer tugged at the chain Rider still held. Her tight grip on the chain pulled her along, and allowed for Archer to reach her in close-quarters-combat. He stepped forward with his right foot and lowered his body into a squat. His right arm whipped forward, elbowing Rider at her gut. The air around the impact surged outward like an explosion. Rider's mouth gaped open as the air evacuated from her lungs. Archer pivoted his right arm up, making his fist hit her face. His left hand erupted in red lightning, crackling like a thousand birds. He thrust his left arm, the lightning would surely kill Rider. The woman still held her chains, and the dagger around his left arm still wrapped around it tightly. In one last act of desperation, she pulled the chain to her left, effectively making Archer's aim redirect away from Rider's abdomen. Archer stumbled whereas Rider , whose chain restrains Archer's arm, recovered.

"My…my. How scary, Archer." Rider said stoically, "If I didn't know any better, you were trying to kill me."

"That's the point, Rider." Archer snapped at Rider, "Though I must say, I'm intrigued by your choice of armament. Daggers connected by chains…" He mused slightly, lowering his guard. Hesitantly, Rider lowered her guard as well, but only in appearance. She knew it would be foolish to follow her opponent's actions, but in the back of her mind, she knew Archer didn't entirely rendered himself defenseless. "It's quite versatile. Daggers for offense, chains for defense or trapping…ingenious. You're quite the master with those weapons."

"I appreciate the compliment, but are you not satisfied with your weapons?"

"Oh I'm satisfied. I just appreciate new weapons when I see it. Blame my lover for getting me into weapons. At least I'm restrained when it comes to seeing new weapons; she can't maintain her composure if she sees new toys to kill people." Archer seemed to looked shocked at his words, "Not that she's a psycho or anything, but she is a weapons nut." He waved of his misunderstanding like an embarrassed teen. Rider almost had a migraine trying to adjust to Archer's mood changes more potent than a pregnant woman.

"_Rider! What are you doing having a nice chat with Archer?!_" Shinji's voice rang loud and clear inside Rider's head. "_You are supposed to be killing him right now! Can you be any more of a disappointment of a Servant?!_" He berated the woman harshly. "_Hurry and kill him already! His guard is down. Do it!_"

"I'll say it just once, Rider. Do not follow that 'Master' of yours. I've had my fun wasting time. You can leave, and continue this next time. If you choose to pursue this fight to the end…SHINJI MATOU! YOUR LIFE WILL BE FORFEIT!" Archer called out to the Matou in hysteric fury. Shirou, who had his own problem to deal with, Tohsaka and Saber, looked towards the direction of Archer's voice. He'd heard the initial explosion, but could not attend to the sound of battle because of a livid Tohsaka. Anyways, said Matou fell on his butt at the threat and volume Archer used. Inwardly, he seethed; this is why he ordered Rider to finish him off! And what's this about not following his orders? He's the real Master of Rider, not that schmuck sister of hers. Archer returned his attention to Rider, "So will you at least listen to my advice? I've met your true Master -lovely girl. I don't see why you have to follow his orders."

"Shinji holds the command spells. Therefore I follow his orders." Rider answered. She started to follow Archer's advice; she completely ignored Shinji's berating as she said those words.

"Listen to me, Rider! You will-" Shinji would have finished his order, but Archer appeared next to him, and punched him with enough force to knock him down. When Shinji saw who punched him, he saw death personified. Archer's towering figure petrified him. He stared at Archer's visor, imagining his eyes that held nothing but disdain for him.

"You are not worthy…Matou. If you can't appreciate her skills as a Servant, then you aren't worthy of being her 'Master', little Matou." He stepped on Shinji's chest with enough force to make the teen have difficulty breathing, "I can't wait to see your death…fake Master." Archer leaned forward, and gave the Matou his best angry look he could make. His foot pressed deeper into Shinji's chest, almost choking the teen. He clawed at Archer's legs as he tried gulping air. The Servant frowned at the Matou Master's incompetence, and stepped off Shinji, and kicked him away like a puppy. He rolled on the dirt several times before stopping on his back, "You're not worth my time, so scram!" Shinji followed Archer's order and scampered away. He crawled first, forgetting how to stand up, then sprinted away. Rider had followed soon after.

"Archer!" Rin shouted from behind. The Servant recognized this type of voice: female wrath. Preparing for the worst, he returned his bow to its default form, the sword, and returned it to its scabbard. His Dao swords disappeared into thin air, seconds before; however, Shirou couldn't help but gain interest over the blades. Rin's voice came to the attention of the men, "What was that all about? Making an impostor Saber like that…are you trying to kill your Master?!" Archer sighed, it seemed whatever he did for fun would always end in this outcome. He wondered if there was a Servant that was a famous ear doctor because he's sure that his hearing has declined from this. How he survived his years next to Sakura's powerful voice without his hearing diminishing was beyond his understanding. "Seriously, I could have killed Shirou here had you not transformed in time. A second Saber…how outrageous and impossible. I bet that there isn't even an eighth Servant, and whoever did it only did it to put everyone on edge." She glared at Archer, not even giving the Emiya Master a passing glance, and pinning the blame all on the Servant.

"I did say some external force would interfere, didn't I? I just didn't say who or what would interfere specifically."

Shirou perked up at the message, "Wait…you allowed for this to happen, Archer?! How could you?"

Archer pointed to Rin, and answered, "The same reason she attacked you: to see if you're at least capable in combat." Shirou had a face of shock. He didn't believe in his skills as a Master then? Archer could see the doubt growing in his Master's eyes, "As a Master, you need to be able to fight with Magecraft. For you to hold on against her assault with only strengthening magic says a lot about your potential through the use of only mundane skills. I actually half expected myself to interfere earlier. If it wasn't for Rider's assassination attempt, then I would have waited longer to intervene on Rin's test." Rin scowled. So there was a reason for Archer's interference. "In other news, congratulations on surviving, Master." Shirou was too appalled by Archer's actions to properly respond.

How could Archer let that happen? Archer said that he'd protect his Master, him; that he wouldn't let anyone kill him. So why? That stupid reason wasn't enough for him. He wanted a proper answer. "Why?" He asked his Servant. Shire revealed his thoughts, and as such, his emotions flowed out as well, "Why would you go through with this?" His frustrations and anger got the best of Shirou, and it was quite loud. However, Archer did not flinch.

"Because I believed that you could live." Archer answered casually, "I'm only here until the end of the War. I won't be here forever. I can't spoil you because once I'm gone, you'll be weak without any form of combat Magecraft to keep you safe. So to see where you're currently at in skill allows me to teach you in a specialized form of Magecraft: Tracing." He opened his right palm, and created the same Yang Dao sword. Shirou noted that the name of Archer's Magecraft resembled his style of reinforcement magic.

"Specialized?" Rin asked, "I've never heard of such a thing before."

"That's because one of my friends taught it to me. It's a valuable offensive skill." Archer grinned devilishly. He made the weapon disappear from his hands, and traced a sword only Saber would be able to recognize. The ornate gold and blue on the ceremonial sword tipped Saber to the true extent of Archer's capabilities. She dispelled Invisible Air, revealing her sword to Archer and everyone else. She raised the point to Archer's chin, and he eyes told the whole story. Archer casually moved the blade away, "I understand, Saber." Both stepped away from each other, and Rin did so too. Shirou looked dumbfounded. What did Archer understand?

The breeze that came from clashing swords answered Shirou's question perfectly. Sparks flew as both Servants made their blades clash with superhuman strength behind the slashes they make. Metal ground against metal, scraping as each went on to do another clash. Shirou noticed that neither Servant deviated from the slash pattern. There were no feints, parries, or such. They were testing the durability of Archer's sword. If Saber's sword is her Noble Phantasm, and Archer has a copy, then it's only common sense to check its authenticity with a durability test against the original. Saber swung as hard as she could to reciprocate the exact amount of force Archer used, or was it the other way around? Either way, their final clash ended the spar in a deadlock.

"Does that answer your question Saber?" Archer asked.

"H-how?" Saber stammered, "How do you have an authentic Caliburn, Archer? What sorcery is this?"

"That, Saber-chan, is a secret you have to discover on your own." Archer answered calmly. He turned to his Master, "It's best we leave now, Master. The commotion has surely brought the attention of Assassin and Caster." Shirou raised his eyebrows; his Servant already knows other Servants are watching him? "I apologizing making you raise your blade against me, Saber. If anyone had suspicions about your identity, I just revealed it. I needed to show you why this skill is invaluable." He bowed slightly.

"I don't get it Archer." Shirou said out loud, "What's so invaluable about your Magecraft?" He scratched his head, wondering why it's so special.

"Archer can copy not only regular swords, but Noble Phantasms, it seems." Saber answered angrily. "How despicable of you, Archer. You ignore the principles of Chivalry, and copy your opponent's weapon using its image against its owner." She raised her sword once more, "You have no right to hold Caliburn!" Archer imperceptibly glance at the rooftop, where the Saber he's known during his life stood quietly. "You have no true qualities of a leader!" Saber accused, "You're more attuned to a Court Jester than a honorable Knight." Her words don't faze the towering Archer at all.

"Are you quite done, Saber?" Archer asked, "If so, then riddle me this…if Caliburn only allows those capable to lead to wield it, then what does that make me?" He silenced himself to hear an answer, yet there were none to be heard of. "No answer? Then it seems I've been promoted to King, Saber."

"Enough, Archer! I cannot accept you as a fellow wielder of Caliburn!"

"So you wish to engage me in combat?" Archer asked incredulously, "I may be a Jester, Saber, but I am an able fighter and capable leader. I am capable of discussing tactics, and have made difficult decisions all leaders eventually face. Those decisions paved the way to allow me to use Caliburn." Archer's voice steadily increase in volume and anger, "You depreciating my abilities to wield this Holy sword is an insult to my skills. So once again, do you wish to engage me in combat?"

"Ye-"

"You won't, Saber. We're allies. We won't fight each other…" Rin answered, "Yet." Shirou stepped in between, putting his hands on the Servants' breastplates and kept the two away from the other. He had to admit today would be the strangest one he'd ever experience. He saw Fuji-nee act like a high school girl, he was chased after by Rin, and now this… He wanted to go home already to process the whole thing from the night before! Too much happened too quick, and it went in the same pace as Archer's mood swings.

"Okay, okay! We don't need more violence right now." Shirou said to the group, "Just look at the place, it's ransacked! Just how will this get covered up?" He looked to Archer, who rubbed his head sheepishly for causing most of the destruction. Who could blame him? A Servant battle is always intense. Rarely will there ever be a lack of environmental carnage on a battlefield occupied by Servants. A plain would be filled with craters or torched, a mountain would most likely lose a huge chunk of its side, a city would no doubt lose a building or two or maybe the whole city if it came to that point. Shire trained his eyes on Rin, "Tohsaka, is there any way we can clean this up?"

"I can call Kirei." Rin answered, "It's the Church's job to cover these things up so that the War is kept out of the Public's knowledge." Shirou didn't like the answer, but it was sufficient for the moment. He wouldn't like to admit it, but something felt off about the clergyman. Archer noticed his Master's change in expression at that moment, but chose to not sate his curiosity.

"That's good enough for now," Shirou answered, "Now…if we're going to be allies, we can't be at each other's throats." Saber lowered her gaze, ashamed because of how she lashed out. The Emiya Master turned to his Servant, "Archer, you have to be more mindful about how you act around women." The man clutched his chest as if he was in pain, "You really know how to push their buttons, and I don't want you to perish because you incurred their wrath upon you." He set his eyes on Saber, "As for you, Saber, you must learn to be respectful and not impose your beliefs on someone." Saber was about to retort when Shirou continued, "Archer may look like a Knight, but the things he carried are something far more advance than what we currently have. And judging by the fact that he has a bunch of skills to use means that he's only donned the look of a Knight."

"Absolutely." Archer answered, "The only reason I look like a Knight is because I first learned how to use a sword from a Knight. I wanted to follow in her footsteps, so I abandoned my previous way of life to live a life of a Knight." Saber noted what Archer said about a female Knight teaching him, and let him continue his spiel, "If Shirou had summoned a version of me where I was dedicated to the Code of Chivalry, we would possibly get along better, Saber. But alas, as of now, that won't happen. Now why am I acting like a disgraceful Knight, well…my friend had knocked some sense into me and told me that I shouldn't borrow ideals. He told me to live my own life my own way. In conclusion, I adopted aspects of Chivalry in my life, and returned to my life as a warrior of my Village as one of the many swords under my Village leader's command."

"So…"

"But enough about me." Archer said, "King of Knights, to answer your question about why I have your sword. I'll give a hint. Second Magic. I'll leave it to Tohsaka-san to interpret whatever that means." He grabbed his Master by the collar of his shirt, "Let's go, Master. I've lot's to teach you, and we can't afford to waste a minute!" He jumped away with his Master in tow. "I'll see you tomorrow, you two!" He said his farewell, and the two blurred away in the horizon. Atop the roof of the school, Saber left as stealthily as she could. She left in time before Rin's Saber took the time to look at the spot where she stood.

"What is it, Saber?"

"Nothing, Master."

"That so?" Rin wondered what Saber noticed, but didn't pursue the conversation, "If that is all, let's go home. We shall do research and try to identify this Knight wannabe." Saber nodded. Archer was a disgrace, a stain on the history of all Knights! She will find his heretic identity and strike him down without any hesitation at all!

The two left the battlefield, and headed for the main entrance. The Tohsaka immediately stopped when she heard footsteps behind her. She turned around as she heard an accented voice speak to her. "Tohsaka-san? What brings you out here so late?"

"I could say the same to you, Edelfelt-san." Rin retorted, "I wasted my time studying in the library."

"Oh. I thought I heard Emiya-san nearby, did he leave?" Her voice had a hint of worry. Why Rin was bothered by this, she didn't know. "I was told to give his writing portfolio to him for reflection."

"Writing portfolio?"

"Yes. Fujimura-san requested me to give it to him because she had misplaced his portfolio." Edelfelt explained. "So is he nearby?" Rin shook her head, making the blonde transfer student frown. "Can you at least tell me where he lives?"

"I don't know." Rin answered, "Shouldn't you have asked for that when she gave you the request?" A logical question for a logical woman. Sadly, Fujimura isn't like that. Far too energetic, she wouldn't be able to stay in one place for too long. The thought must have passed over the woman when handing out the request to the student before her.

* * *

><p>Hours later, at the Emiya residence, Archer received a hefty scolding from Saber. The blue-clad King of Knights had him sit on his legs, place his hands on his lap, and stare at the wall behind her. They were discussing about Archer's decision to reveal his origins, or at least a fractional portion of it. Obviously, Saber wasn't too fond of the idea. Shire found the scene laughable because the giant Archer was being scolded the the relatively petite Saber in dojo clothing like a Master would. She even stabbed a Shinai the same way Taiga would when in lecture mode.<p>

"What do you have to say for yourself, Archer?" Saber growled.

"It isn't enough." Archer answered, "They won't figure out my name from that vague of an anecdote. All they know is that in one aspect of my life, I was a Knight at one point. And while they may look at the famous Knights of both history and literature, they won't find my name there." His voice didn't waver; he knew what he was talking about, and Saber knew this as well. "There isn't enough information. They will never find out my name from that at all."

"Then what will give away your identity, Archer?" Shirou asked. "Your occupation?"

"Possibly. Yes." Archer admitted. "You wouldn't think a Shinobi could become a Knight, right?" Shirou's eyes widened. His Servant was an Assassin in the Feudal era?! Could that actually be possible? He read that Medieval Europe hadn't advanced in naval technology to even reach Japanese shores. By the time Europeans actually reached the Far East, the Medieval era died. Archer saw the calculating look in Shirou's eyes as the latter tried deciphering his origins. A laughable attempt, but, "As I said, Master, you won't find any information about me."

"Then what land's hero are you?" Shirou insisted on finding out what he could.

"Now, now. Shouldn't you ask me on a date first before getting to know my more personal story?" Archer joked lamely. Saber sighed and lowered her head in shame. Shirou blushed at the word 'date' and had images of women he thought were attractive invade his mind. Sadly, his blush was seen by his Servants. To Archer in particular, this meant extra ammunition, "Oh? Don't tell me you actually play for the other team, Master? It seems I must stay vigilant about where you place your hands on me." His mischievous sneer terrified Shirou, but the fact that he was being implied as gay was another thing! He won't take that insult!

"I like girls, Archer."

"_Suuuuuuure_ you do."

"I don't have to take your immaturity, Archer!" Shirou yelled, "How are we compatible if you're this childish?" Saber had to agree. How did they become compatible? They act nothing alike, nor are they in the same mindset. The only thing remotely close to similar is the fact that their Magecraft is the same, and their ideals will be something they cherish. Hmm…that actually could be the answer to that. Ideals are something Shirou clung to in her reality.

"I don't know the answer, but something between us has to be similar." Archer replied, not even insulted by Shirou's words. "But anyways, back to the point." Shirou dreaded this. He could feel it. Archer was concocting some rather strange way to humiliate him. He just hoped it wasn't too humiliating. "Prove your masculinity and sexuality. How about you ask the next girl that knocks on your door to a date?"

"What? I-I can't do that!" Shirou stammered nervously. "There's a procedure to this. You can just force th-"

"Be quiet, virgin." Archer commented. "If you actually want to get a girl, take the initiative." He emphasized his point by slamming his fist on the floor. "That Matou Kouhai of yours has taken a liking to you, Master. And it's a very big amount of liking. She's just afraid of overstepping her boundaries. Why not ask her?" Archer suggested. Sakura? Nononononononononononono. Not Sakura. Sakura wouldn't be caught dead being next to him in public at all. He doesn't deserve her. And what's this about her liking him? Shirou smelled BS of the nth degree. Archer's just playing another game with him."She's soft-spoken, easy to talk to, she's familiar, and she won't physically abuse you." Oh? So he has experiencing a woman's fury? No surprise there; he just loves pissing women off.

"No."

"C'mon. If you don't do this, I will be inclined to take measures to protect my posterior, Master."

"Rgh! I told you I'm not gay!" Shire shouted.

"If you were gay, that'd be okay." Archer said soothingly, "Cuz hey, I like you anyway." Shirou hoped it wasn't in the gay way, "Because you see, if it were me, I would feel free to say that I was gay, but I'm not gay." Did he just?

"Did you just quote a song? And immediately translate it into Japanese?" A nod. "This really isn't helping your case, Archer."

"Hey! Either you die alone, or in the hands of your lover…sss."

"Oh don't you start with that harem end you keep talking about!" Saber looked at Archer. He was hooking her up! With another reality of Shirou to boot! And with a harem end? Really? Clearly, Archer was having way too much fun with this. He needed to be stopped. "I don't need the 'Nice Boat' flag to trigger, Archer!"

"But it's fun." Archer cheered. Shirou scowled. Saber slammed her head on a wall. Archer really was better off as a Knight. This version of Archer isn't just meant for any Master to handle without blowing a gasket in their heads. "Lighten up, Master."

Shirou clearly didn't, "No! I won't do it." He turned his back on him and crossed his arms like a spoiled kid. Or a disappointed father. Either way, he doesn't want to do Archer's suggestion.

"Chicken."

'_Oh no__…__not this. Did he _really_ just go there? He actually _stooped_ that low? My goodness he did._' Shirou palmed his face with both hands, unable to fathom Archer's immaturity. '_Where did that seriousness all go?_' Shirou asked himself. He actually looked cool in his fights and when debating against Rin's Saber. '_Why does he become like thiiiiiiis?_' Archer did clucking noises behind him, followed by Saber's head slamming on the wall repeatedly. It seems Saber's lecture was a moot point. How did they even get to this point? Archer's clucking became louder, and louder, and more obnoxious. Rank B obnoxiousness is working its magic. '_Why was that even a personal skill?!_'

"Alright I'll do it." He finally said in order to shut Archer's mouth. In rather extremely coincidental timing, the doorbell rung. Archer gave a knowing look that Shirou detested. Reluctantly, Shirou headed for the door to seal his fate. When he reached and opened his door, he saw Sakura in front of him. Silently thanking any god for it not being another guy, a random girl, or worse, Fuji-nee, he gulped and said, "Good evening, Sakura."

"Good evening, Senpai." Sakura greeted back.

"Um…Sakura?" Shirou was getting quite uncomfortable with this. In the back of his mind, he knew Archer was keeping his eyes glued to this, so he won't get out of this situation at all. Just his luck that he has to do this. Shirou scratched the back of his neck as he asked, "W-would you like to go on a…a-a…a datewithmethisS-Sunday?!" Archer slapped his face; Shirou totally butchered it! But this girl likes him, so it won't actually affect the outcome at all, which is…

"I'd be happy to, Senpai!" Shirou looked stunned_. _Archer was actually right? Sakura wasn't pulling his leg at all? She's glad to be asked out on a date? The Emiya Master took quite a while to process this.

"Good evening, Shirou!" Fuji-nee shouted seconds before reaching the door. '_Oh god. Fuji-nee!_' Shirou shuddered at the idea of him asking out Fuji-nee.

"_Oh? Shirou, I can't do that we're teacher and student. Besides, we're like siblings, it's almost criminal to do this?" Wait...where he get that idea? He shouldn't be thinking about this at all! "But if you insist, we can always keep this...a secret._" Fuji-nee's voice seemed extremely arou-NO! He should not be thinking about this at all! What's making him visualize thes- "_Oh! Shirou! Not there!_" Okay that is way past fine! Behind him, Archer worked his magic. Imposing less than moral images into Shirou's mind, corrupting him, making him a harem Master.

In the background…

We see Saber choke slamming Archer into the dojo. Choke hold Archer. German Suplex Archer. Back Break Archer. And all other sorts of wrestling moves a Knight like her shouldn't even know how to do. If one were to listen, he or she would hear bones cracking under strenuous pressure; none of it sounded like the general knuckle-popping, but it did sound like dislocation and intolerable suffering. Archer's screams of pain and torturous distress helped that idea stick. Oh! Saber with the full Nelson and she joins it with a wrist lock. Bones strain under the pressure and pop like bubblewrap.

"AHHHHHH! SABER-NEE! STOP! WHO TAUGHT YOU THESE MOVES ANYWAHAHAAAAAY?!"

He'll be fine. Hopefully.

"OH GOD, THAT'S NOT SUPPOSED TO BEND THAT WAY!"

Hopefully.

* * *

><p>Dinner was an awkward experience for Shirou and Sakura. They averted their gaze whenever they made eye contact with each other. Saber held Archer at chopstick point (never heard of that eh?) while Archer himself soothed his shoulders and neck to lessen the discomfort of eating. At least he survived Saber's grapples; that's all that mattered. '<em>Where did she even learn those moves?<em>' Meanwhile, Saber silently thanked her slight interest in wrestling to subdue Archer. She remembered the time when she saw a match after the War in her reality and during Carnival Phantasm. With some difficulty using the computer, she somehow reached to point where she saw grappling techniques and emulated them from the pictures shown in _pedia. She never thought she'd see the day where she would actually use those techniques to the full extent on her surrogate brother of all people. Taiga had fun teasing the already embarrassed Shirou when she found out he just asked Sakura on a date. She would nudge him every chance she could just to make him flustered even more.

Just then, the doorbell rang. In order to eliminate himself from more embarrassment, Shirou ran for the door; he didn't expect to see who would be ringing his doorbell at all. Archer sensed Rin's Saber outside the residence as well as another Servant, possibly Assassin, lurking somewhere in the shadows. He discreetly told the Saber in the house to hide. Saber gave a quick excuse to use the bathroom, and left the table.

"Eh?! T-Tohsaka-san? Edelfelt-san? What are you two doing here?" Ah…the stress of managing a harem…always a struggle.

"Do you know how long we've been trying to find your house?!" Rin asked. "Too long, that's what! I've wasted my time and effort to help Edelfelt-san get you your writing portfolio back to you for your reflection work." She and the blonde transfer student looked exhausted to say the least. With the effort they've done to look for his house, he should at least offer them dinner.

"Do you two want some dinner for your troubles?" Shirou offered nervously. Only then he saw the ratio of man to woman slowly rise to the opposite gender's side. Both women nodded exasperatedly. "We better get some compensation for doing you a favor, Emiya." The boy cringed at Rin's harsh tone. "Really now." She crossed her arms. Not satisfied by wasting her time with this. She promised Saber to help figure out Archer's identity, but she somehow got wrangled up in this mundane task of finding Shirou's house.

"I apologize for Tohsaka-san's attitude, Shero-san." Luviagelita Edelfelt, the transfer student, answered while bowing to ask for forgiveness, "It has been a taxing day searching for your residence." Shirou waved it off, completely understanding the circumstances of Rin's attitude. Inevitably, two new additions came inside the house. Taiga and Sakura looked shocked to see the newcomers. Shirou explained the situation, and Taiga repeatedly apologized to Luvia. Luvia bowed first, "Thank you for your hospitality, Shero-san." She expressed her glee with a glorious smile. Rin followed suit, but with reluctance.

Right then and there, the Tohsaka Master noticed Archer sitting from across the table. She was surprised to see him not being obnoxious at all. She thought it had to be one of his tricks. She heard Taiga speak, "Hey, hey, Tohsaka-san. You're friends with Sakura-san, right?" She nodded, "Well guess what? Shirou here asked her to go out with him on Sunday." Rin was happy Sakura got the guy she liked. Luvia frowned at that. It seems she had competition. She stared at Sakura's gleeful face, which underneath of it all, her mind jumped for joy, and the darker parts of her mind wanted Shirou all for herself. Taiga jumped to another topic as she introduced Archer, "Oh, Tohsaka-san, Edelfelt-san, this is Mister Gunther, an Englishman who's trying to be a teacher at Homurahara." Rin stared at the so-called 'Mister Gunther' as he lowered his cup of tea. He gave a smile that somehow affected both women. Rin scanned Archer over some more, and saw something rather peculiar.

**Hidden Skill**

**Charisma: B+**

'_He has charisma?_' Rin questioned, unable to believe her eyes, '_This moron has charisma? Just what hero was he?_' Archer saw Rin's expression of confusion, and he was mildly amused by it all. Steeling her emotions, Rin greeted Archer's persona, "Nice to meet you, Mister Gunther." Her english was perfect, Archer could see that, but it still had that slight accent in there. "How long have you been here in Fuyuki City?"

"Not long, Tohsaka-san." Erik answered, "I've been here for about a week or so for vacation until I met Emiya-kun and tutored him in english. Fujimura-san wasn't happy about me taking her job initially, but instead, she suggested the idea that I become a teacher in your Academy." Rin questioned whether that was actually true or not, but for the sake of keeping Fujimura alive, she would have to play along to Archer's alibi. While not favorable, the risk was too high if a non-magus found out about the War.

"Oh really?" Luvia stepped into the conversation, "That's an interesting story you have there, Mister Gunther. When will you be taking your job interview?"

"Oh. That hasn't been decided yet. I have to receive my credentials from my mother's house. I was on vacation, and I wasn't really planning on teaching until my vacation was over. Give or take a month, I might be able to get a job interview within two weeks."

"I see…"

"Oh, Mister Gunther, is your sister okay?" Taiga questioned. Now that she mentioned it, she had gone and stayed in the bathroom for too long. He needed an alibi quick! "She's been in the restroom for quite a while." Erik stood up and bowed while asking to be excuse to check up on his sister.

"He has a sister?"

"Oh yes." Taiga answered. "She the older one to boot, but she's so short compared to Mister Gunther. She's even a Kendo practitioner with skills equal to mine!" Rin leaned forward. A sister of Archer can beat Fujimura in Kendo? Most interesting indeed. And if this sister is related to Archer, then it just means that there's an actual eighth Servant, and it had to be that blue Saber she saw today! However, she can't come to conclusions quickly. This might be one of his tricks again, and he cloned himself and somehow changed his appearance to portray a sister. That had to be the other logical reason for Archer to have a sister. Moments later, Archer turned to the room.

"Emiya-kun. May I request that you make some porridge? It seems Clarisse has caught a fever." Shirou scrambled from his seat. The young Master actually thought his Servant was sick until he saw Archer give an unnoticeable wink to the boy. He recomposed himself, and nodded to his Servant. He took to the kitchen, and retrieved the necessary ingredients to make porridge. Sakura came to his aid, if only to speed up the process.

"Will your sister be fine?" Luvia asked the man.

He nodded, "She'll be fine. She always comes back full force when the illness is gone, but I'm only doing this to give her a little push. Every little bit help after all." The blonde woman couldn't agree more. She stood up and bowed to Emiya, "Once again, I appreciate your hospitality, Shero-kun. I have overstayed my welcome as has Tohsaka-san. We shall take our leave now. I bid your sister a good recovery, Mister Gunther." She grabbed Rin's arm, who gave much protest, and dragged her away.

"Bye, bye, Tohsaka-san, Edelfelt-san!" Taiga waved the two as they exited the room, and eventually the house.

Archer stared at Luvia's right. There was nothing to see; however, he felt the presence of a Servant. '_Someone infiltrated the house? No doubt about it__…__Assassin. Only a Shinobi, barring those I allow, will gain access through the bounded fields protecting the Emiya residence. So is this Servant summoned from my time?_' He released a pulse of Chakra so faint only he would notice. He made his Chakra react to another Servant, allowing a certain point in his circle of Chakra to bounce back to him like a radar. The Servant was right next to Edelfelt! He had to thank Pervy-sage for keeping him on Chakra control exercises because his control had been refined to be as sharp as a paper's edge. While not an easy task, it was rewarding as shown right now. '_I must move my plans up._' He decided. '_My interference has hastened the pace of this war. If it__'__s like that, then I__'__ll just have to be faster!_'

* * *

><p>Ten at night, Archer left the Emiya residence of his own volition. He ordered Saber to keep an eye out for Shirou. He explained to her that his plans need to move forward. And to do so, he had to meet the Einzbern Master. His clones had scouted the whole of Fuyuki city within the hour, yet there was no sign of the Einzbern's home. If she isn't in the city, she had to be secluded elsewhere. The clone that searched the forest encountered resistance; his clone was impaled. He thought it was Lancer, but it couldn't be it. It was a woman, and no one else but Shirou summoned another Servant. He pulled out his sword and let it change into its motorcycle form. He revved it a few times before driving into the night. He sped past other cars on the road, ignored all the rules of the road, almost made pedestrians roadkill while driving to the forest. He was almost caught by the police.<p>

When he reached the forest's edge, he expertly dodged the trees blocking his way. His reflexes honed by countless sessions of 'Dodge this while riding your bike' certainly helped in this case as well. He seamlessly turned when needed, hitting the apex of each turn. His bumpy ride to his destination did not stop him from enjoying the breeze running around him. He drove some more until he saw a lake clearing meters away. Revving his bike even more, Archer rode his vehicle over the water's surface like its was another patch of road. When he crossed the lake's boundary, he hit a boundary field's border and passed through. He popped open the coffin in the back, and took out the sword inside it. He felt it, he'll be under attack soon. He wondered if it will be that woman that killed his clone or his target.

Once he saw the hulking mass that is Illya's Servant swing his weapon at him while inside the forest, he knew he answer. He leaned forward to be as lateral as possible to dodge Berserker's strike. His sword slashed at Berserker's side, cutting a visible, but not so deep gash. Archer proceeded to search for Illya to talk things out. Sadly, Berserker kept getting in the way. Archer's constant maneuvers weren't enough to escape the Servant's pursuit. Berserker jumped in the air and was about to slam his sword on top of Archer's head. Not enough time to dodge, he changed the bike into its broadsword form. He grabbed its handle with one hand and gripped a gap in the metal to pull the handle out, allowing the edge of his weapon to reveal a set of teeth found only in chainsaws. He pressed the trigger on the handle, and the sword revved as it met Berserker's weapon. Sparks flew as Archer's weapon tried to cut through his enemy's. Metal screeched an unholy sound as both Servants battled for dominance. Archer briefly won,and used it to push Berserker off him. He backed away, landing a few meters away from Berserker.

"You would come to take my Master's life in her domain? How foolish are you to think you would be able to succeed in doing such a thing, Archer." Berserker's lucid words do not shock Archer one bit. And he could hardly care less if his plan seemed foolish. Many people had called him that already. And in turn, he did the impossible. "I am my Master's shield and sword, her sentry. You...SHALL NOT PASS, despicable Archer!"

"Oh? And what's so despicable about me in your eyes?" Archer asked while stabbing his weapon into the ground, "I already heard from Saber about how I don't necessarily follow the Code of Chivalry. Now what about you?"

"You would kill a Master to win." Berserker simply answered.

"And that's where you're sadly mistaken, Demigod." Archer said to the towering Servant. "I'm here to propose an idea." Berserker took a fighting stance, his sword just beside him ready to slash at Archer at a moment's notice. Archer himself took a prepared stance if anything went wrong.

"You would come here to propose an idea with sword drawn, Archer?"

"Well either I die, or I defend myself." Archer shrugged his shoulders. "Besides, shouldn't you be worrying about Assassin?"

"Assassin? What does he have to do with this?"

"He followed me. Am I right in assuming that, Counter Guardian Teme?" He looked to the sky with his voice spreading out to the trees. Hidden in the leaves, Assassin perched himself on a branch. Archer knew his position, but Berserker could not. Heh. A fellow Shinobi can only found by a fellow Shinobi. "Alaya put you up to the task too?"

"Why should I tell you?" Archer took that as a yes, "You seem to have the situation under control, Heroic Spirit Usuratonkachi." Assassin's voice echoed among the trees, and Berserker couldn't identify his position anywhere. It angered the Servant because Presence Concealment was a taxing thing to defuse. Archer snickered at his derogatory name. It brought out memories of a naive past. Assassin continued to speak, "My Master has gone and told me to retreat because I've been found out. Don't get rusty now. I've got a rematch to settle with you." His presence disappeared from battle, letting the two Servants return to their original conversation.

"A friend of yours, Archer?"

"Rival." Archer answered. "We had a major falling out. Darn nearly killed me several times."

"I see." Berserker relaxed, "If I were to allow you to meet with my Master, would you lower your weapon?" Archer nodded, and took his broadsword into its default Saber form, returning it to its sheath. He raised his hands to show his willingness. Berserker deemed Archer as less of a threat, and beckoned the Servant to follow him.

* * *

><p>Minutes later, "Why didn't you kill him, Berserker?" Illya's voice boomed in contrast to her tiny body. The Homunculus Einzbern ordered, "Strike him down now!" Archer raised his hands to interrupt the girl.<p>

"Hey, hey I just came to tell you that the Lesser Grail is corrupted."

"What blasphemy are you talking about, Archer? I'm the Lesser Grail's vessel, I'm sure I would know if I was corrupted or not."

"Angra Mainyu, all the world's evil, resides in the Lesser Grail's true form. I cannot allow you to turn into the Grail at all, Illyasviel Von Einzbern. Alaya, the will of mankind, designated me with the mission to destroy the corrupt Grail inside the Lesser Grail. Which means I would have to kill you." Berserker took a swing at Archer, who easily sidestepped out of the weapon's way, " I don't want to kill you. Fortunately there's a loophole. You won't turn into the Grail unless you're defeated and when all Servants but one are remaining, right? So until then, I want to help protect you." He kneeled to the girl like a Knight to his King. "That is my proposition, Einzbern. Will you accept or not?"

Illya did not answer for quite some time. This Servant wanted to protect her? It's as believable as Gilgamesh actually being generous. The fact that an enemy Servant would also lend her a helping hand disgusted her to no end. She wouldn't accept his offer, and said "I'll accept your offer, when you die! Kill him Berserker!" Her Servant charged, swinging his weapon at Archer. He didn't dodge, but grasped the blade with both hands. He should have at least budged a meter or so, yet he stood still, holding on to Berserker's sword.

"It seems negotiations have failed." Archer said solemnly, "Before the night ends, let me at least entertain you with the loss of several lives Berserker still has in stock." Illy scoffed, not taking Archer's threat seriously. She heard a piece of metal clank on the floor. Upon closer inspection, it was Archer's visor. The Servant of the bow looked up, and both Berserker and Illya saw the piercing blood-colored eyes Archer bore. And even more, Illya saw a skill activated as well.

**Skill -activated: **

**Mad Enhancement: EX**

**Hidden Skill -activated**

**Controlled Madness: EX**

**Rank change**

**Strength: A++**

**Agility: A**

**Magic Resistance: D-**

**Independent Action: B**

**Presence Concealment: D**

**Riding: C**

**Territory Creation: E**

**Endurance: A+++**

**Mana: A+++**

**Luck: C-**

**Noble Phantasm: EX(+?)**

"Well then…Berserker, shall we dance?" Illya had eyes wide open. A Servant under a Mad Enhancement of that caliber shouldn't be able to speak at all! "Hehehehaha…let's see the strongest Servant meet the most pragmatic Servant!" He pushed down Berserker's sword and vaulted himself to Berserker's face and drop kicking the Servant. He bent his knees and used Berserker's face as a platform to jump away. Archer slid back as he landed, his sword turned into red gauntlets with blue neon lines showing off its power. The Servant cracked his knuckles and neck, "Are you ready, Demigod, Einzbern?" Archer released a deadly amount of Prana, signifying Mad Enhancement's activation.

**I am the bone of my sword!**

* * *

><p>In the Emiya residence, Shirou felt a slight drain inside of him. He wondered what it was.<p>

_**And so ends another chapter of this fanfic. I hoped you like it. For those wondering, Controlled Madness is a made-up skill to show Naruto**__**'**__**s control over Kyuubi**__**'**__**s bloodlust. This also means he**__**'**__**s mastered all the tails. In other words, Controlled Madness keeps the benefits of Mad Enhancement, but removes the insanity. Get it? I hope so. And for Shirou not being drained, Naruto is using Mana and his circuits to fuel his own Mad Enhancement, leaving Shirou with minimal drain. Also, don**__**'**__**t hate on Sasuke. Seriously, it**__**'**__**s so childish to bash. Hate on the character on your own time. **_

_**Other than that, follow, favorite, review, flame on Sasuke, do whatever.**_

_**This is Azure, starting off with the first update of 2015, signing off.**_


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